The Climb
by BeatrizCrespo
Summary: What happens when you find love in the least expected of places.When tragedy hits Bella Swan she has to move to New York only to find what she had always been looking for. Doesnt matter how fast she gets there, what matters is the climb.AH
1. New Beginnings

The tears in my eyes finally ran dry. I was only two blocks away from the new school and already I felt like a outsider. Constance Billiard Academy was the name of the all-girl section of The New York School of Excellence. Its brother school, St. Judes harbored the richest, most snotty future businessmen of America, while Constance was the training ground for the future socialites, charity ball-going, Ivy League, mothers of the year of New York.

To think that last month I was happy in sunny Florida and now, I was stuck in the most air-congested noise making city in the entire United States.

"Unhappiness is a state of mind", my mother would say.

"Mom" I sighed.

My mother had died three weeks ago, when a drunken hard ass from none other than New York ran over the new convertible she had just bought me for my birthday with his hummer. She had the top down. It was safe to say I didn't want what was left of the car.

Now I was in the last place I ever wanted to be. My dad, Charlie was police chief of New York and though with my mom I never had much money, my dad had no problems paying the tuition for Constance Billiard, even if it could have fed an entire third world country for a month.

So here I was in front of the ancient Entrance to the old school, and all I could notice was that I could definitely not fit in. Every girl was wearing designer shoes stockings, and not to forget the all attractive, hair bands. It was only October, but with my luck, winter had come early and all the girls were wearing gloves, coats and scarves, all in such colors that the uniform was barely recognizable.

I however, had stuck to my black and blue plaid skirt, white shirt, and plaid tie. The only thing to separate me from them was my knee high black boots, and my white ivory coat, it seemed to me, color was a must in this school. Not to mention my lack of a hair band practically screamed outsider.

When I got out of the dad my dad had appointed me and all eyes turned in my direction. I had a built in siren, and the looks I got told me that friendliness was not a New York custom.


	2. New People

The crowds were difficult to pass by, and I could feel their eyes bore into my back. I saw both guys and girls, and was surprised; I didn't know yet the regulations. The boys all looked like Ken dolls, wearing uniforms of white shirts, black pants and plaid ties. They too were wearing coats, and gloves and scarves. I couldn't help thinking, what is this… gossip girl? Thank god, at least they weren't wearing head bands.

The office was not that difficult to find, it was right off the main hallway. The receptionist, a four eyed, red head gave me all the information I needed for the new school. She went over everything with me including, "Lady Gentleman relationships" as she called it. You only have class with the gentlemen of the brother school if you take science subjects, otherwise you will notice we have a strict policy, on interaction during class hours. Lunch times are fine, and you will see we turn our heads at displays of affection, but any overtly sexual behavior calls for immediate expulsion.

I wondered why she told me this; did I look like the type of girl that would make out with a guy right in school? I'd never even kissed a boy before for crying out loud. After she wished me a good day I left for my first class.

History had always been my favorite subject. I loved hearing about old stories, things that I wasn't there to see. The first thing I noticed was my teacher, she looked like an ex-supermodel. She had to be at least fifty, but her figure was slim and tall, her eyes were Ice blue and her hair so blond it was almost white.

I went straight to her desk and she directed me towards a seat at the end. Nice and far, that's how I like it. I sat next to a pretty blond girl who was texting under the table. She had dark eyes and short curly hair. As I took out my notebook she barely acknowledged my presence. I could see that if this continued we would get along fine.

"You're supposed to leave your coat on the rack, not just throw it anywhere" she said, not taking her eyes up from her cell phone.

"Oh" was all I answered looking at my white coat that was leaning against the back of my chair.

"Jessica" I supposed that was her version of an introduction

"Bella"

"lunch?" she asked

"k"

This exchange of monosyllables was cut short when the teacher began the lesson.

After History, I had math. The most dreadful of all possible subjects. The teacher was fine, and the lesson went by quickly, so when lunch came, I felt better about the new school. I sat at a big table, full of people, whose names, other than Jessica's, a guy named Mike and a shy girl named Angela I all forgot. There in the courtyard eating my role of sushi is where I first saw them.


	3. The Populars

They were sitting only a table across from me. There were five of them in total, they were all beautiful, the type of people you'd find in a magazine, or posing in a movie poster. There were two girls and three guys. One of the girls was breathtaking; she had long blonde hair, down to the middle of her back and a figure that most girls would literally kill for. Her eyes were blue, but like violets. The guy next to her looked like her twin. He was tall, and strong, with shaggy blond hair, straightened to cover his eyes, that I noticed were blue like I supposed his sister, but more of an ice-blue. The other girl, who was leaning against the tall blond, was short, pixie like in features with jet black hair that was spiked in every direction, her eyes were big, and I could tell they were the lightest of grays. Of the other two guys one was huge, and well muscled up, with curly black hair that almost reached his shoulders, and he too had big grey eyes. The last boy, the one that held my attention the most was the most gorgeous of them all. His hair was a bronze, red-brown color. He was tall, but I could tell he wasn't gangly, but well built. His hair was messy, and seemed so silky I felt like reaching out and touching it, but what caught my attention the most was his eyes. They were almond shaped, and the most clear emerald-green color I had ever seen. They were beautiful. This wasn't what kept my attention, it was the fact that those green eyes had locked on mine and I couldn't seem to look away. He smiled softly, probably at the blush that I felt rising in my cheeks, and he mercifully let go of our connection by turning to look at the short pixie girl and answer something.

"Who are they?" I asked Jessica, whispering because of their proximity.

Without taking her eyes of her cell phone she answered me. Apparently she already knew who I was talking about because she didn't even look up. "Those are Constance and St. Judes popular's" she told me. "The one with the blond hair, that's Rosalie Hale she's Constance's resident beauty queen, she actually almost won Miss Teen USA, her father is Senator Hale, you know, of New York?"

"Yeah"

"The other blond is her twin brother Jasper, he's like on the Olympic swim team. The girl next to him, the short one, yeah that's Alice Cullen, she's like the main designer of **aLLENz****.****"**

"You mean the clothes brand" I asked, my fashion knowledge was limited.

"Yeah, I mean like she like invented it you know"

"Wow"

"Totally, so the other one the big one with the black hair, that's Emmett Cullen he's Alice's brother, he like is the director of his dead dads company, big bank, and the last one, Edward, you know the gorgeous one with the bronze hair you don't stop looking at? (she hadn't even looked up from her texting). He's a Cullen too. He's like a musical prodigy or something, he's supposed to be the best pianist in the present time."

"Yeah well he's Carlisle and Esme Cullen's son. You know, Dr. Cullen of the New York Medical Institute, The Cullen Foundation, The Cullen Building Company and the Cullen Hotels."

"wow" was all I could say

"That's not it, he's like a billionaire on his own but his parents, he's like super bank, and he's an only child."

"Aren't the other two his brother and sister?" I asked her

"No, Emmett and Alice were Dr. Cullen's brother's kids. They live with them because their parents died last year."

"Oh. That's so sad"

"Yeah it was like a major scandal! Apparently they were fighting and he crashed right into a speeding fire truck."

After a short pause she continued

"Totally juicy too, everyone knew their mother was having an affair, and you'll never guess with whom! Some poor Latin cabana boy from the Bronx! At least she had a good piece of ass"

At this point I was disgusted with Jessica, she was actually smiling at their torment, I felt terrible, especially for the dark haired kids that were laughing and hugging each other. Apparently Jessica wasn't finished though because she continued after taking a short breath.

"But don't get any ideas Bella, Alice, she's with Jasper, have been ever since the accident, and Rosalie and Emmett, yeah they are like super together, I heard a rumor they were engaged! And while Edward is single I wouldn't get your hopes up, he doesn't even look at girls, and he probably thinks the girls here aren't good looking enough for him, cuz he's never even talked to anyone unless they sit with him in class.

"Ok"

It seemed Jessica truly enjoyed the Cullens torment and I shuddered at the thought that this was how most New Yorkers were.

When I got to Biology I noticed it was a co-ed class. After talking to my teacher he pointed me towards the only empty chair, and my heart skipped a beat when I noticed the person next to it was the beautiful Edward Cullen.


	4. Class Notes

As I sat down I didn't move my eyes from my notebook. The teacher hadn't started yet and I had nothing to do so I resorted to doodling on the last page of my notebook.

"Hi" a velvet voice surprised me. I looked startled at Edward Cullen who was looking at me with the same small smile he had given me when I was having lunch.

"Hello"

"Your new here, I'm Edward, Edward Cullen"

It didn't sound like a question but I decided to confirm it just in case

"Yes, I am new, very perceptive." I chuckled

"Are you going to tell me your name?" he asked, and I could see the curiosity behind his question.

"That depends"

"On what?"

"On why you want to know my name" I was purposefully trying to baffle him, payback for his staring at lunch time.

"You're my lab partner; I'll have to call you something"

"Call me Ishmael"

"Moby Dick?"

"Good book"

He was probably going to ask me again, but he stopped when the teacher called us to attention.

I was paying attention when I saw a note written on my desk

Please tell me what your name is

Fine, my name is Bella.

Welcome to Constance Bella

At this I had to laugh. I let out a silent giggle. It sounded like something one would say in a movie before becoming best friends forever!

What's so funny?

Nothing

Something must be funny for you to laugh

Not funny, just cheesy

Well I don't think anyone's ever referred to me as cheesy. (His expression seemed pained for a second)

Not you, just the whole "Welcome to Constance" thing. You'd expect something like that in a movie, or from a teacher.

Oh.

Are you from New York or are you from another state?

I was born here but moved to Florida when my parents divorced. I was two years old, so I don't remember it.

Why'd you come back?

My mom died.

I'm sorry, I didn't know, I wouldn't have asked. (A small frown emerged on his lips and he looked truly sorry)

How would you have known? Don't worry its fine.

Where do you live?

Upper East Side, my dad is New York Police Chief and he like inherited a lot from my grandparents; they owned the largest share of a Hotel Company, Swan Hotels.

My parents have hotels.

Kool. Mr. Banner is giving out notes so you might want to stop.

I already know what he's teaching

Then why are you here?

Don't like free time.

Oh.

EPOV

Bella was beautiful. Her hair was super long, longer than Rosalie's fake extensions, and was a deep mahogany color that had hints of red and black in it. She was slender, and I could tell her figure was amazing, she wasn't super tall, but tall enough, with beautiful legs that tantalized me. I always had a thing for a girl in boots. She wasn't like the rest of the girls at Constance. For starters, I could tell nothing about her was fake, no fake hair, fake nail or fake nose, best of all, no fake attitude. Also, she miraculously wasn't wearing a hair-band, something that I had only seen happen with my cousin Alice, whose spiky do would only get ruined by the things. Even Rosalie who was supposedly the trendsetter of the school would wear them like a religion. Yet she wore none, where other girls were crazy-full of accessories, she was only wearing simple golden hoops, and while every girl was wearing stockings she wore boots! The boots were truly amazing, I had to catch my breath when I saw her, walking towards a table with her lunch. All I knew was that she was like nothing I had ever seen before.


	5. Alice

After my interaction with Edward Cullen I had English. There, I sat next to the spiky haired sister of the guy that held my thoughts.

She was practically bouncing in her seat the whole time, as soon as she saw me enter the door.

"Hi" she squeaked the second I sat down.

"Hi" I told her almost afraid of her eager face and wide smile.

"I'm Alice Cullen. I'm an orphan; I have one brother, and a cousin that's like a brother. I have a boyfriend, his name is Jasper but I call him Jazzy, I live with my aunt and uncle, I hate the color orange and I'm your new best friend." I swear the entire team she didn't take a breath and I had trouble keeping up seeing how fast she was talking.

"Umm, I'm Bella Swan, 17, no boyfriend, no siblings, mother's dead, live with father, he's a cop, and umm, I love blue but hate green, and I want to be a writer.

"I design clothes, I love clothes, and shopping, it's awesome, as your new best friend you have to come shopping with me. I know we're gonna be great friends."

"Uh, umm, I don't really like shopping, but I'm sure we will be." I knew this was true the second we said this. Sure she was a bit hyper, and strange, but she was so natural, everything she said, the way she said it, you could tell it was all her. She was sweet too, in her own way, I could tell we would be great friends, she wasn't like the rest of the girls in Constance, she was down to earth, she was Alice.

"YOU DON'T LIKE SHOPPING?"

"shh, Alice the teacher will here you!"

"I don't…"

She was cut off by the teacher Ms. Simmons calling us all to attention.

"This month, you will be put into partners for a project that will count for thirty percent of your grade. We're working on Shakespeare and in true Shakespearian fashion you will have to write a script, direct and design a play that must take place in the time. If you wish you may also act in it. You will have the first month to write and submit your entire script, and the next to prepare for your play. On December 14th, before school goes out the best play will be displayed in our annual charity gala. If you don't get selected, your play will be done during our class hours when we come back in the New Year. You all know your partners already so start brain storming, that's what we'll be doing till the plays are displayed."

"Wow, no class for two months" I said quietly, but I don't think Alice heard me because at the same moment she was at my side talking.

"This is going to be AWESOME!" We'll choose something to write about. You'll write, I'll design, we'll both direct and then we'll both act." She was bouncing out of excitement, and I couldn't help but smile

"Alice I don't want to act."

"Yes, you do. We'll make two female stars, that way, we'll be the leads"

"How about this Alice, we do everything you want, I'll write, you'll design, we'll both direct, but I will manage from the back, and you will act. Take it or I do neither."

"Fine"

"Great so what are you thinking?"

"Well I was thinking more of an eighteen hundred set. You know, ball gowns, tiaras…"

"Yeah…"

"And well, an arranged marriage"

"Ooh, yeah…" I thought, then added, "How bout they don't want to get married, and they're really young. Like our age, and then, umm, they hate each other, and then end up falling in love before the wedding?"

"Bella that's brilliant I love it. Ok, we have to have…"

Class continued with us planning the script, and the characters, the scenes, and the costumes. Alice and I worked great together, and if we didn't agree on an idea or didn't like it, we would fix it up till it was great. I was actually starting to enjoy Constance and it was all because of a spiky pixie, who hated orange and got "dibs on me as a best friend" as she put it.

When the bell rang I started to get up, and Alice asked me what class I had next. When I told her I had gym, she shrieked, grabbed my hand at started off. All I got out of her was that we had the same class.

"My brother is in this class too" she said on her way.

"I thought your brother was a senior?"

"Oh he is, but Edward, he's like my brother, so I just refer to him as that. He's really my cousin."

I felt a jolt at the name, and was baffles as why something as simple as him being in another one of my classes excited me so much. Then terror hit me. He was going to see me in gym, the clumsy girl who can't walk a straight line. I sighed.

"He's my lab partner in biology you know"

"Really, you already know Edward? I hope he wasn't rude and didn't talk to you. Don't take it personal, he's just quiet and kind of a loner. Don't get me wrong he has friends but he doesn't talk easily, especially since all the girls in school are only interested in his looks…"

"Alice", I cut her off, in fear she might faint for lack of breath, "its fine, we talked through the whole class, well more like wrote since it was noted we were passing, but he wasn't rude at all so you can breathe."

"Really? Wow, he never talks to Constance a girl, that's awesome."

"Huh, well I am his lab partner we would have to communicate eventually."

"You don't know Edward, his last lab partner, he left to boarding school last year, well she was always trying to get him to talk, and she really wanted to get with him you know…? But anyways he would only speak if courtesy absolutely demanded it, no you're special Bella, otherwise Edward would've never talked to you."

"I doubt that, but If you say so Alice."

"Come on Bella, you don't want to be late to gym"

"Ugh… gym."


	6. Gym

"Ugh… gym"

My worst nightmare would have been to do something totally embarrassing during my first day, worse if it was gym. I didn't know my nightmare could get worse. Technically gym was not co-ed, but there was a Constance and a St. Jude class in the gym which meant that though separated, I could see Edward Cullen, sexy as hell since they were playing shirts and skins basketball. He was amazing, his stomach was completely flat, but he had totally defined abs, his body was perfect, he had wide shoulders that slid down to a slim waist and hips. He was playing skins. His arms were muscled up, and every time he jumped to score he looked like he was superman taking off in flight.

Unfortunately we girls were playing volleyball. The gym clothes we wore were horrible. I felt so self conscious, they had placed us in teeny tiny shorts, and skin tight tank tops, in blue and white. I had brought my black sneakers, and had to wear knee high socks to be able to put on me knee guards, I felt like such a preppy. What was worse was that my worst nightmare got worse, and It happened right in front of non other than Edward Cullen.

EPOV

Bella looked amazing in those shorts. My breath hitched when she came in and luckily she wasn't looking my way because the ball hit me straight in my face. She looked so shy, so fragile, she was looking down, hugging herself and blushing furiously. I could tell she was the type of girl that would never be caught dead in shorts that short, but Constance Billiard was a preppy school, you'd expect them to wear short things and plaid, stockings and hair bands, and I could tell that was so not Bella's style.

Apparently she was really bad at volleyball because our teacher stopped class early and we were sitting on the bleachers when Bella had to get up to play. She was sitting next to Alice and they were chatting and smiling and her teacher Coach Clapp called her over. "Swan!"

Oh, that was Bella's last name; I hadn't realized she was from_ the_ Swan clan. I know she said something about Swan Hotels but I had been too busy staring at her to notice. Wow, a Swan girl huh, well my father would be proud. I stopped myself at that thought; I was only interested in her because I wanted her to be happy here. I could tell she was really sad, even though she was laughing with my sister; it wasn't like I was interested in her as more than a friend. Yup, that's it, I'm just being friendly, I don't have time or interest in anything else.

I went back o watching Bella play volleyball, she had to let go of herself to serve and I noticed her shirt was skin tight, her cleavage showing like the other girls. No wonder she wouldn't let herself go. I had to remind myself to breathe "Oh my god" I whispered.

Bella had to serve, and she looked over my way. I probably looked like a total idiot to her, staring the way I was. She blushed and went back to the ball, she was holding it like it was a weapon of mass destruction and I couldn't help but smile at her attitude. She hit it, and the game continued, when the ball went back to her side Alice passed it to her, telling her to spike, she jumped, hit the ball and it came back to her, managing to hit her in the head as well as Alice and Lauren a annoying girl that was always trying to flirt with me. Bella fell, and was sprawled on the floor, not moving. I was shocked, and terrified that she was hurt, I ran over to her where a circle of girls was looking down on her.

"Bella, Bella oh my god" I was kneeling next to her, holding her to me, trying to shake her away, I hadn't noticed all the other girls staring at me, especially Alice with a smirk on her face, yet worried at the same time. In any other situation I would be laughing at her "Don't get a brain hemorrhage Alice"

I felt Bella moving under me and looked to see her opening her eyes.

"Edward"

"Hey, you ok, you hit your head pretty hard'

As if in acknowledgment of the pain all she said was

"Ow"

"Yeah, ow works."

I turned to Coach Clapp

"Is it ok if I take Bella to the nurse?"

"Yes, please, Cullen" she said turning to Alice "go with your brother"

I picked her up in my arms, carrying her bridal style.

"Whow, Edward what are you doing put me down. Right now"

"I'd rather not" I smirked at her

"Edward stop"

"Bella you hit your head, you might have a concussion, you'll probably just fall down"

"Hmph, fine"

I smirked at her, and noticed her staring down, with a stubborn look on her face. Her cheeks were red, and her arms were crossed.

When we reached the nurse I got her on one of the hospital beds.

"What do we have here" the elderly nurse asked me

"She hit her head with a volleyball and fell pretty bad."

"Oh, you poor thing, let me get you some ice. You might have a concussion but I don't have the equipment here for that, I'm going to have to call an ambulance to take you to the hospital.'

"Oh, no" she groaned

"That's fine; I'll take care of it I told her."

"Alice, phone" I said my hand reaching out, without taking my eyes off Bella, whose eyes were shut. She handed me a pink blackberry with a ton of rhinestones on it."

I sighed "Alice"

I quickly dialed my father's number. He picked up on the second ring.

"Hey sweetie, aren't you supposed to be in school"

"No, Dad it's me"

"Oh, Edward, sorry, I thought it was Alice, what's wrong?"

"I need your help dad, my umm, well, my friend Bella, she had a bad accident in volleyball and we don't know if she has a concussion."

"Is this Bella your girlfriend?" I could hear his smirk through the phone.

"No, what, makes you think that … she's just new, and umm, she's a Swan, and he's Alice's friend"

"Yeah, sure, well, I'm about to finish a surgery, bring her to the house, I have what I need there."

"Thanks dad"

"Anything for you son"

I hung up and turned to Bella, who was staring at me with a curious expression. I gave her the phone.

"Here, call your dad; you have to come home with us so my dad can check you out"

"Edward that's sweet but not really necessary"

"Would you rather go to the hospital with Nurse Green?" I whispered in her ear

"You house it is. Alice, come here don't look so sad, I'm fine"

She gave Alice a small smile.

Alice's smile was huge

"do you know what this means Bella?"

"What?"

"Your coming over. Call your dad, tell him your staying over there"

"Alice…" Bella whined

"Alice nothing, you're staying. Now call your dad"

"Ugh… fine"

I smiled, she looked so stubborn.

"Daddy, um yeah, I have to go to my friend Alice's after school. … No, it's just well, you know how clumsy I am, well I had an accident in volleyball and their dads a doctor. No daddy I'm fine. Yes. Uh huh. Well it's Cullen. Really? Ok. "

She hung up.

"Well I can go, my dad knows your parents"

"Ok, schools almost done, let's go change Bella" Alice grabbed her hand and left. I couldn't help but feel sad when she wasn't there anymore. It was like the sun had gone down.

**I'm so sorry for the last two chapters, apparently my fanfiction has been down, I am putting it up as soon as I can. Oh and by the way, this has nothing to do with gossip girl, I just don't know any other school in New York since I've never been there.**


	7. My Sun

Edward waited for me and Alice to get in the car that took them to school. It was a big Land Rover and Edward pulled me to the back seats that were down.

"What are we waiting for?" I asked him softly. Truth was my head was really hurting me and I had some white spots in my vision. I didn't want to worry either of them with that information though.

"We have to wait for my brother, as well as the Hales."

"Oh, they live with you?"

"No, not really, we own one of the skyscrapers here in Manhattan When they're not in their country home, which is only there for the appearance of a family structure they rent out a floor of our building. We live at the top, three floors including the penthouse. They live on the floor that's right beneath where we live, it's pretty cool actually having your best friends so close."  
"Well that must be fun; the girl is your girlfriend right?"

"What? No way… I'd get so beaten for that. Rosalie, no se is so not my type!"

"Oh, but Jessica said…" What exactly had Jessica said, she'd mentioned Rosalie with one of the Cullens, maybe it wasn't Edward, wow, so he didn't have a girlfriend, huh.

"Jessica? Jessica Stanley? Oh she's like the schools most gossipy plastic girl ever. She probably wasn't referring to me, Rosalie is my Brother Emmett's girlfriend, and they're like super close"

"Oh, maybe she meant him"

"You asked Jessica about us?" he was smiling at me, his eyes full of curiosity and amusement.

"Well, umm" but I was saved the need to fully answer when Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett got in. Emmett was in the front seat next to the driver, while Rosalie and Jasper sat on either side of Alice.

"Jazzy!" she squeaked, climbing on his lap and giving him a peck.

He chuckled and kissed her sweetly, hugging her and not letting her go.

"Aww that's so sweet" I whispered to Edward.

"Yeah, they're really close, it's almost like they can read what each other is thinking, it's been like this since well, forever. Apparently our little conversation was heard because Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie turned as Edward was whispering in my ear about Alice and Jaspers relationship.

"Hey, who's that?" asked Emmett a smile crossing his face.

"Guys, this is Bella, She's new to Constance, and she's coming home to meet Carlisle, Bella this is my Brother Emmett, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale."

"Hi" I smiled shyly

"Well I'll be damned, Edward Cullen has a girlfriend" said Emmett

"She's not my girlfriend Emmett, she's just my friend, and Alice's too." He mumbled

"I looked over and Edward was blushing, almost exactly like me.

"Whatever you say little brother"

"Rosie, you are so going to love Bella, she's hilarious" Alice was beaming

"I'm sure we'll be great friends" Rosalie smiled at me. Are you the girl that knocked down Lauren Mallory a Gym? The whole schools been buzzing, apparently you really worried St. Judes most eligible bachelor'

"Rosalie" Edward snarled

"What Edward? I'm serious Jessica Stanley was talking about it to anyone that would listen, apparently you looked like Romeo and Juliet when he thinks she's dead."

"What?"

"Yeah, they said you looked really worried and now the schools buzzing about little Bella here being you girlfriend" Emmett laughed.

"I did not look like that Rosalie, and stop it Emmett" Edward was practically snarling at them, his face could be competing with mine for reddest blush. I couldn't believe it. So he was worried about me? Wow, all this time I was thinking he thought I was pathetic. Huh. Edward Cullen worried about the new klutz; I could see the headline in my head.

"You were worried about me?" I asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, you really looked like you were hurt, but if you say anything to Emmet I will never see the end of it." He whispered in my ear.

In response I pretended to zip my lips, lock it and throw away the keys. He smiled and went on talking through the rest of the car ride, though the red in his cheeks didn't manage to completely leave.

Edwards's house was amazing. There were three stories and on the top one was a amazing view. Only a piece of it was taken up by the dining room, and the kitchen, the rest was taken up by a huge pool, and a garden. There was where we found Edwards mother Esme.

"Mom, hey, mom!" Edward yelled

She unplugged some earphones and smiled over at us. We were sitting on stools in the kitchen counter; the entire top floor had thick glass as walls. She stepped towards us (more like glided).

"Oh, hi darling, sorry there I couldn't here you."

"Oh, that's fine mom. This is Bella"

"I got up and was going to shake her hand but she swept me in a hug."

"Hello Bella, I'm Esme Edward's mother. It's so good to finally have him bring a girl home" she smiled at me as if she was trying to make me comfortable.

"Oh, umm, I'm" I was at a loss for words

"Mom, stop it your worse than dad. Let me rephrase, this is my friend Bella."

"Oh, well I'm so sorry. I just thought… well nice to meet you _friend _Bella.

"Nice to meet you too"

"Is dad here yet?

"No, but he called he should be here soon."

"Bella had an accident during gym, she needs to see him."

"Oh you poor thing. Let me make you guys a snack, why don't you take a lie on the patio she said gesturing to a covered area next to the garden and the pool where I saw a couch and some lounge chairs.

EPOV

I led Bella to the couch and told her to get comfortable, I could tell she was feeling worse than she was letting on, she almost missed the couch completely.

"Just lie down till my dad gets here. No excuses, Ok Bella?"

"Yes Edward."

Mom brought us lemonade and after we had drank a bit, I noticed Bella's eyes drooping."

She was truly the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Asleep she was so peaceful, her face was white, but she still had some of her blush highlighting her feature. Her long hair fell down her shoulders, bordering her face and leaving little wisps in her face. I knelt forward, and with my hand moved the hairs from her face, my hand tingling when I touched her. Well that's different

"Edward?" she sighed

I was so embarrassed, she caught me staring but she hadn't opened her eyes, maybe she talked in her sleep. Almost as if to confirm my thought she sighed again "don't leave."

I was shocked; it was almost as if someone had turned on a light. One moment everything was dark and then, the next a meteor fell across the sky and maybe everything light and beautiful, everything special and wonderful, everything peaceful, tranquil, exciting and heartwarming. The meteor was Bella, her words, her face, her hair, her shyness, her clumsiness, I knew nothing about her but I felt like I knew everything, what I didn't know I would find out, what I hadn't talked to her about I would, it was important, I needed to know her, I had to keep my sun.

I heard a sly cough behind me and turned to find my entire family looking at us (I considered Rose and Jazz part of my family).

Rosalie and Alice were clutching each other beaming at me, Alice practically bouncing where she was, even worse than usual. Esme was staring at me as if her heart was about to burst of joy, Jasper was smirking, and Emmett was smiling gigantically. Carlisle was smiling too, but e looked like he was trying to hold back a laugh because of my expression.

"Son, umm, would you like to wake your friend so I can check her over?"

"Sure" I mumbled, deeply embarrassed and fearful of Emmett. He was staring at me and crossed his lips, closing them with a zipper, and mumbled "scouts honor" I couldn't help but smile, Bella had done that too.

I gently touched her, "Bella, Bella you need to wake up"

I felt her stir and look up at me from underneath those incredibly long lashes. I hadn't noticed how beautiful she really was until I looked into her eyes. They were a chocolate brown that seemed to go on forever, an open book full of emotions, they were a window to her soul, the most beautiful, precious of souls.

"Hmm, Edward?"

"My dad's here, he has to check out how your head is."

"Oh, ok"

She stood up, and with my help walked towards where the rest of the family was.

"Hello Bella, I'm Carlisle, Edward's father. It's very nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Cullen."

"Please, Bella, Call me Carlisle. Now come with me, let me check your head."

Carlisle did some of the usual tests, and said that she did not have a concussion, but that there was a possibility that she had a fractured skull. A quick trip to the third floor and the x-ray machine said proved she didn't. I sighed in relief.

"Well Bella, you seem fine, but I'm writing you a note to get you out of gym, you need time to relax and physical stress will not help that in the case you have a small fracture not detected."

"Ok"

Then, as I was going to ask Bella if she wanted me to drive her home, Esme came in with a Tall man that could only be Bella's father.


	8. Dinner at the Cullens

My dad quickly came up to me and hugged me. "Bells, are you ok, I was so worried?"

"I'm fine dad."

"Oh thank god"

"Hello Carlisle, thank you for looking after my little princess" They shook hands while my face reddened at his nickname.

"Charlie, you must stay for dinner, and by the way Bella, I think Alice is planning to keep you here till tomorrow." Said Esme

"Oh, right, I forgot to ask my dad"

"No Bells its fine, Alice called me, didn't take no for an answer that on. I brought you some stuff"  
He handed me a black shopping bag. In it were another uniform, new shoes, toiletries and pajamas.

"You got me all of this?"

"I didn't actually pick it out, Sue did, but yeah" Sue was my dad's longtime girlfriend, the other day he had talked to me about proposing, something I immediately encouraged him to do so.

"Thank you"

"Anytime" he grinned at me.

"Well dinners almost ready, maybe half an hour. Carlisle, why don't you take Charlie to watch something, while Edward shows Bella to Alice's room, though I'm not sure if she'll be more comfortable in one of the guestrooms, what do you think Bella?."

"Anything's fine with me." Just then, Alice emerged, she had changed from her uniform and was wearing a hot pink sweat suit and white uggs, on the back of the pants were the words JUICY

"No way, you're sleeping with me… it'll be like a party, Rose is staying too, ok mom?"

"Sure, it's not like she doesn't stay practically every day."

"Come on Eddie!" with one hand she grabbed me, the other Edward and started pulling us towards the large winding staircase.

"Bella we're going to give you a tour."

We went all the way to the bottom floor, where the staircase started. There I was shown through a large living room, two guestrooms, two bathrooms, a study, an office, a music room, and what looked like a fashion studio, there was also a large open are where they said they hosted parties. I was baffled. My dad's house/apartments were huge, but we only had two floors, and they weren't this big. On the second floor were Alice's room, Edward's room, as well as Emmett's, and Carlisle and Esme's. There was also a large "Movie area, with cool seats and a giant screen. On the walls there were thousands of movies.

Each room had a bathroom, but I only went in Alice's, Emmett's, and Edward's. The first one we looked at was Emmett's but I only got a glimpse because the first thing we saw was Rosalie and Emmett deep in a make out session. They stopped looked at us, and then continued… I was at a loss for words.

"Forgive them…" said Edward "they can't keep their hands of each other."

"I noticed"

We then went to Edward's room. It was really cool, the walls were a off white color, the bed had a black and gold bedding and there was a black couch to one side. He has large windows that were partially obstructed by gold and black curtains, and the rest of his room was taken up by a gigantic stereo system next to almost a million cd's, records, and any other type of music data.

"Wow, this is your room?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of into music"

"I heard you were the best pianist in the world."

"Hardly, just in America", he smirked at me

"That's amazing, will you play for me?"

"Do you want me to?"

I just nodded

"I promise I will, but not tonight"

"Ok" I smiled at him

I looked around to ask Alice what the next stop was, but she was gone

"Hey, where did Alice go?"

"She left… huh… I hadn't noticed" he seemed sincere, so I just sat down on his couch.

"So what music do you like?"

"Any type."

He took out a cd and put it in the stereo. I immediately recognized it.

"I love Claire da Lune"

He looked at me, truly surprised, shook his head and smiled.

"You know Debussy?"

"Yeah, well my mom…" my breathing hitched, and I had trouble keeping the tears away. It always happened whenever I thought of her, my mommy, my best friend, gone.

"Hey, Bella, it's ok, you don't have to go on." He knelt in front of me and hugged me. I felt so safe, he was so warm so careful. I hugged him back, and the tears immediately went away.

"I'm sorry, I'm fine. Yeah well she would play some classical music around the house. I only knew my favorites though."

"It's one of my favorites too" he smiled at, he was so close, we had hugged and he was still kneeling in front of, I could see his beautiful Emerald eyes staring at me, filled with emotion. His arms were still around me and all he would have to do is lean forward two inches for our lips to meet.

Unfortunately Alice chose that moment to make her reappearance, jumping in the doorway screaming "I'm back", jasper right behind her, only to notice the moment she was intruding on.

"Oh, we're sorry, Esme says dinner is ready" Jasper said, deeply embarrassed

"No Jazz, its fine, Bella and I were just talking, come on, let's go" he offered me a hand and I took it, getting up and following Jasper and a silently beaming Alice out the door.

Dinner was very interesting. Esme and Carlisle sat on either side of a very long table. My dad was sitting on Carlisle's right, followed by Edward, me and the Alice next to Esme.

On the other side was first Emmett, Rosalie in front of Edward and Jasper in front of me.

The food was great, I had learnt Esme had cooked it herself and heavily complemented her. She had made steak and potatoes, salad, and light pasta. Everything went smoothly other than Alice's glances at me and Edward, and the little jolts I would get every time our arms grazed each other.

The conversation was light, and at the end we all moved to the patio area, where we sat on the couches. The garden by night was truly beautiful, there were twinkle lights in the small bushes, and there was a small fountain with angels pouring water in every direction.

Desert was chocolate ice cream, no one other than my father knew my chocolate craze so when Esme handed me two scoops in a bowl and I thanked her, my father chuckled'

"You might want to hide that when you're finished Esme, or you might wake up to find it mysteriously eaten."

"I would not have eaten there ice cream"

"You see Esme, my little girl here has quite the chocolate craze, her mom used to tell her that's why her eyes were that color."

I smiled but at the mention of my mother a jolt of sadness spread through me. Edward who was sitting next to me gave me a supportive squeeze. My expression must have been obvious because Esme, thinking it was because of the chocolate frowned and offered me more.

"No, it's not that"

"Oh Bells, I'm sorry" said my dad

"It's fine dad, tell them."

"You see, last month, it was Bella's birthday, she turned 17. Her mother and I decided it was time to get her a car. So we both bought her a convertible Ferrari, it wasn't really her style but we knew she'd like it. Bella was waiting in the park for her surprise; her mom was going to drive it to her. Well, we're not sure how it happened but a drunken kid in a hummer ran over the car, the top was down." He looked really sad, and was staring at me, as if worried I would start breaking down.

The expression around me were of sadness, terror, shock, pity, compassion, more sorrow. Edward put his arms around me

"I'm so sorry Bella"

"It's ok; it's safe to say it wasn't one of my favorite birthdays."

"Oh sweetheart, we're all so sorry, that why you came to New York?" asked Esme, her voice slightly trembling

I just nodded.

The mood was sad, but after a few minutes everyone started talking again, until my dad said he had to go.

"Night darling" he kissed my forehead

"Night dad"

"Well, you guys we're going to bed, goodnight."

"Uh oh, earplugs everyone, we all know what that means" laughed Emmett. NO one could help but laugh, even Carlisle and Esme whose first reaction was shock.

"Emmett" she warned

"Don't worry, we're very conscious of how Edward came to be." He laughed, at this point I was rolling over in laughter.

"Goodnight" Esme said, with a slight menace in Emmett's direction, yet amusement in her eyes.

Carlisle smirked, clapped Emmett's back and told him

"Put on your earplugs, loud enough for us to hear but low enough that Esme who was already by the door heard nothing.

I could feel the easy laughter, and feel Edward shaking, he was still holding me. I looked at him, and he shyly pulled back his hand. I just smiled.

Alice and Rosalie got up

"Come on Bella sleepover time" while I was getting up she kissed Jasper, while Rosalie kissed Emmett, leaving me and Edward looking awkwardly at each other, but thankfully that soon ended and we went downstairs for my first sleepover.

**Listen up…**

**These are the songs that inspired the entire story in this order. Sorry, but some are in Spanish.**

**If we were a movie (Hannah Montana)**

**Teardrops On My Guitar (Taylor Swift)**

**Reflection (Christina Aguilera-Mulan)**

**Por Amarte Así (Christian Castro)**

**This I promise you (NSYNC)**

**No Me Doy Por Vencido (Luis Fonsi)**

**Can I Have this Dance (HSM3)**

**Crazier (Taylor Swift)**

**Right here, Right Now (HSM3)**

**Every day (HSM2)**

**Our song (Taylor Swift)**

**Si no te hubiera conocido (Christina Aguilera and Luis Fonsi)**

**When you look me in the Eye ( Jonas Bros.)**

**Music of My Heart (NSYNC)**

**Love story (Taylor Swift)**

**The Climb (Miley Cyrus)**

**And yes I recognize I'm a total Disney chick…**


	9. Texting

Sleeping over at Alice's was truly an interesting occasion. She made me do her hair, I made it curly, so she looked like an angel, Rosalie did mine, and she curled it, a lot. My hair that was down to my waist was no halfway down my back. She sprayed it, and told me to take a shower with the cap on, while she did Alice's nails. I went and Alice had a super cute pink cap. My hair wouldn't get wet one bit. I smiled.

EPOV

I was wondering about a way to go see Bella when I noticed she had left the bag her dad had brought her. Thank you god, I said silently, picking it up and walking down the hall to Alice's room. I quietly knocked and went in when they told me I could come.

"Hey, umm Bella left this in my room" I said raising the bag into view "where is she?"

"Oh, she's in the shower" said Alice

Just then I heard the water cut off

"Hey Alice…Agh, Edward!"

Bella was standing in the doorway to the bathroom with nothing but a white towel covering her body; it only reached low enough to cover half her thighs… her hair was super curly, and little pellets of water were falling from her neck, into the towel. She looked like an angel. I had to remind myself to breathe, but I couldn't help it, there was no way I c was going to take my eyes off of her. She looked shocked at first, her cheeks flaming red, wow; she was going to give me a heart attack if she kept walking around looking so amazing.

"I'm sorry Bella, here you forgot this in my room" I mumbled. I sounded like an idiot, she probably thought I was some idiot stalker, or at least that I had mental issues, what with my incoherency whenever I was around her.

"Its fine, you don't have to go, just wait till I change okay?" she told me, still red in the face

"Yeah" I gave her a small smile and saw her look at me, her eyes wide with an unidentified emotion.

I sat down next to Alice and Rose, who was doing her nails.

"You should ask her out" Rose said

"Yeah, I can tell you like her Edward" said Alice

"I do not, I'm just being nice, she's my friend" I was in denial, inside I knew the truth but I would never admit it to anyone hat had any connection to Emmett; he would probably never let me forget. Plus, Bella probably had no interest in me. She was a goddess, an angel brought down from heaven, she was a shining star, the sun, the earth the entire universe, she was the most important thing in it, without her, the world would end, why would anyone so important, so lovely have any interest in me.

"Whatever Edward. I've known you all your life, I can tell, you like her" said Alice, but I was saved from a response when Bella came out in her pajamas. Her curls were bouncy, and she looked heavenly in blue pajama pants with black stars on them, and a light blue camisole. She looked at me and smirked.

"What?"

"Oh nothing"

"Bella", I groaned in annoyance.

"It's just that, we match" she laughed lightly, and Rose and Alice laughed with her, Alice threw me an I-told-you-so look in my direction. We did match, I was wearing a light blue-grey t-shirt, and blue pajama pants.

"Oh, we do"

"You both look go in blue" Alice said

"Thanks" we both said at the same time.

"Well I better go" I said, dreading the fact that I couldn't stay here and continue staring at her.

"Goodnight Edward" Bella said

"Later" said Alice and Rose at the same time

"Goodnight Bella"

I was walking out when I heard Alice screech at me

"So we don't get goodnights too?" oops, I had totally forgotten them

"Goodnight Rose, goodnight Pixie" and with that I closed the door and went to my bed to dream about Bella Swan.

BPOV

The next day at school was way worse than my first. For starters, when I got out of the Cullen car, all eyes stared at me in amazement. I had broken my social status in one day, something I wasn't interested in, but still amused by. Secondly, I had actual friends so I wasn't all alone the entire time which was good, but the worst of them all was lunch time.

Right before we got to school I passed everyone my cell phone so they would put in their names. My dad had given it to me when I got here, it was a custom Blackberry in baby blue with my name written in a pretty cursive handwriting in black on the back. Everyone in the car had a blackberry so we were able to text each other easily. The first person to text me during my Math class with Jessica was Edward.

Hey, Alice says to demand you have lunch with us. She also says to make sure everyone knows you're her best friend and no one else's. See you at lunch

My only reply to him was that I couldn't wait. The truth was I really couldn't. Edward Cullen possessed all of my thoughts, and I barely noticed what the teacher was saying throughout the entire class.

Jessica, who was sitting next to me, asked me to pass her my phone to put in her number. During class I got a message from her.

"What's going on with you and Edward Cullen?"

"Nothing, we're friends, he's also my lab partner, and I have two classes with his sister who told me to give official notification that I was her best friend and no one else's."

"So why'd you come with them today?"

"I stayed over there because there dad had to check me to make sure I wasn't hurt from yesterday"

"Oh, yeah, I heard. Lauren is totally fuming about how you knocked her on the floor and not one noticed her. She like totally hates it, she was trying to play well to get Edwards attention. According to her, all you had to do was fall like some pathetic damsel in distress and Edward Cullen was like totally freaking out, yet she does any and everything to get his attention and he doesn't give her a sideways glance."

"Oh, well I didn't mean to hurt her, as for the pathetic damsel in distress, tell her that's a bit cold, and that I can't help the fact that I have two left feet."

"She thinks you want him, I don't blame you, and everyone wants him. I mean, he's gorgeous, and like super rich."

"I'm not interested in Edward in that way, and I don't care if he's rich or beautiful, he's just a good friend."

"Whatever Bella"

The conversation was a partial lie, both to me and to Jessica. I knew I was totally interested in him, but there was no way I was going to tell that to Jessica, according to Rosalie she was the most gossipy girl at Constance.

When I went to lunch, I sat down next to Edward and Alice at the "Popular" table as the others called it.

Halfway through lunch Edward was playing a stupid game on his Blackberry, he asked me if I wanted to play, and we traded phones to see what the other had. On my way to biology I was playing when I accidentally opened a new message (I still hadn't gotten used to the blackberry)

What it said turned my world around

Alice sent him a text saying "Liar", so I was trying to close but I just ended going to the beginning of the conversation

PixieWings: So are you going to ask Bella out?

MusicMonster: I told you NO, I do not, repeat NOT like Bella.

PixieWings: Do to

MusicMonster: IF I did I would have asked her out by now, me and Bella are just FRIENDS!!!

PixieWings: Liar

My heart practically stopped, and I was shocked to feel the pain deep in my heart.

"Here Edward you have a message" I said to him, we were walking to Biology together

"Oh, thanks, I…" he stopped in his tracks when he saw the message.

"Bella… I'm, its, I"

I decided to be brave, I wanted to be his friend, I did, even if I felt something for him, deep in my heart.

"Edward, its fine. I know we are just friends, I'm glad you set the record straight." I gave him a small smile, trying my hardest not to show the sorrow I really felt.

EPOV

I am an idiot. Bella saw the texts between me and Alice. I would have told her the truth, that they were lies. That she was not just my friend. That she was the most important thing to me, ever. I would have professed my feeling right there in the crowded hallway. What stopped me was her reaction. She practically laughed it off. She thought it was funny. She said she knew we were friends, that she was glad I set Alice straight. I had already mentally prepared myself for this outcome, there was no way someone like her would ever feel anything towards someone like me, yet the blow hurt, it hurt bad. It was like someone had punched me in the stomach, and all the air had come out of my lungs. I tried to smile, but all I probably managed was a small grimace. She rejected me, without knowing she sealed my fate of loneliness, because there could never be anyone more beautiful, more perfect, more innocent, there would never be anyone else but Bella. I decided then and there that I was gonna try, I was gonna fight for her, make her love me, make her see. I had to come up with a plan, something genius that would bring her to me. I needed something strategic, and clever, I needed something quick and fast paced, but I couldn't think like this, so I knew what I had to do, I needed Alice.

MusicMonster: Alice I need you help

PixieWings: Anything for you bro

MusicMonster: I need to get Bella to love me

PixieWings: I KNEW IT!!! Just tell her

MusicMonster: Can't, she saw our last convo, said she was glad I had told you we were just friends, said that's exactly how she felt.

PixieWings: I need ten minutes, let me think

MusicMonster: Thank you Alice, and you know the rules, Al, not a word

PixieWings: I know, I promise, and thank me later, after you have her!

Biology class was a drawl, I couldn't wait till Alice texted me back. Finally, I got some relief from my torment at exactly the ten minute mark.

PixieWings: here's what we'll do. You're going to make Bella jealous, you'll ask someone out, in front of her, now would be good, and after that talk to her about it, tell her you've had feelings for the girl for a long time. You're going to take her out, and then tell her all about it.

MusicMonster: Isn't that a bit cruel?

PixieWings: Do you want her to realize she wants you or not?

Music Monster: Sorry, you're the boss, go on…

PixieWings: You are also going to hang with Bella a lot. You're going to be the lead in our play for English; I'll make sure there is a kissing scene, I'll assign an actor that will suck, and she will substitute when the girl gets sick on that day.

MusicMonster: How do you know she'll get sick?

PixieWings: With enough money anyone gets sick

MusicMonster: Ahh…

PixieWings: Understand? Now make sure to tell her everything, make her be your best friend, you have a month to date a girl, she has to be pretty. Ask the girl out NOW!

MusicMonster: You're the best Pixie

PixieWings: I'll find a way for you to pay me back.


	10. Invitations

**My inspiration for the next chapter is the song teardrops on my guitar by Taylor Swift.**

**Any criticisms anyone has good or bad will be highly appreciated.**

EPOV

Finding a pretty girl in the biology class was very difficult. No matter where I looked all I saw was Bella, but I needed her, and Alice had never failed my before. Then as I was about to give up I looked over at the so annoying, so indecent Lauren Mallory. Sure, most guys would think she was attractive, she was blond, leggy, and had big hazel eyes, but she was and it hurt me to say it this way (my mother taught me better) a slut. More than once she had not so subtly offered to well… umm… I would just use her words, screw me. I was so not interested, but maybe, I could ask her out, an easy yes.

As the bell rang I told Bella to wait for me so I could walk her to class with Alice. She mumbled an okay, not getting up from her chair.

"Hey Lauren" I yelled across the room.

Immediately her eyes shot up and looked in my direction, her expression told me she was trying (but failing) to be sexy.

"Oh hi Edward" she told me with a super friendly voice, that she probably thought sounded surprised.

"Bella" she practically hissed

"Lauren", Bella growled at her

I wanted to make her apologize for how she talked to my Bella, but I remember, she wasn't mine, yet. To get her, I needed the despicable excuse for a human being in front of me.

"So Lauren" I said using my best effort to be sexy "How would you like to go out with me this weekend?"

Bella's head shot up like an arrow, first towards me, then to Lauren, as if waiting for a response

"Well, sure Edward, it's about time you asked, you like to keep your girls waiting" she told me

"Saturday?"

"Perfect" she practically purred.

I got up, and asked Bella if she was coming, she just nodded.

"Wow" I said, trying my best to sound sincere. "I've been trying to get the courage to ask her out since forever. I mean, you know there are all those girls who are so fake, but she, she is special" I grimaced at the last word. Lauren Mallory? Special? That was an adjective I would never use on her. I would only use that on one person, she was walking beside me.

"Well I'm very proud of you Edward, and I'm glad you're happy."

Bella did not look happy, she faked a smile, but I saw right through it, maybe Alice's plan had already started to work…

BPOV

The second Edward asked Lauren out I felt a dagger go through my heart. It was torture, pain, pure agony. It took me all I had not to break into tears right there. He looked at me, and I faked a smile. He didn't know, he didn't know how much I needed him. She was beautiful; she was special as he called her, she had everything I wanted, but never knew I did. Walking with Edward was even worse, I had to smile and pretend I was happy for him. Of course he wanted her, why would he ever want me, plain Bella. There was nothing special about me. I wasn't beautiful, I wasn't super talented like him, I couldn't sing, dance, do anything. I couldn't even walk a straight line without falling. I was pathetic while he was flawless, gorgeous, wonderful, stunning, and lovely, he was practically a walking god, he was Edward, and he was now Lauren's.

English class with Alice was particularly painful, since she kept on asking me what was wrong while we planned our play. I kept on grumbling nothing, and by the time we had gym, I was pretty sure Alice was deeply aware there was something wrong with me.

Luckily I didn't have to do gym for the rest of the week, so I got to sit in the bleachers and watch the other girls play. Edward who was sitting on the bleachers, his teacher was out sick, came over and sat next to me.

"Hey Bella, what's up?"

"Nothing, just watching them play."

"Oh, Laurens there, wow, she's really good isn't she"

Each word was another stab, each time getting deeper.

"Yeah, I hear she is actually trying out for nationals" I mumbled

"That's amazing. Well listen the reason I came over here, other than to talk to my buddy of course…"I grimaced at the word buddy, more pain… "was I heard you and Alice are putting on a play and I wanted to try out as Charles if that's ok with you" I grimaced, that meant a lot of time with Edward, but there was no way to say no, he would be the perfect Charles, I had actually shaped the character to be just like Edward, the only difference was his appearance. Charles had black hair, instead of bronze, his eyes, were the same green, the same shape. Alice had asked me why I already had shaped only Charles and I simply told her I had thought a lot about it. "Sure, that would be wonderful, all that's left is to write the script, I'm doing it this week, and then we submit, it's due next week Friday, after that is rehearsals, but you're going to have to try out."

"Yeah, that's fine; I just really want the part"

"Ok"

"Well I'm going back to the boy's side, bye Bella"

"Bye Edward"

A week passed. Apparently Edward had an amazing time on his date with Lauren because he would stop talking about it. It was nonstop, texts, and silent conversations. I would smile, and tell him how happy I was. On the Monday after the date, Lauren sat with us at lunch. Edward had his arms around her shoulder, and was whispering something in her ear. She was giggling and looking up at him, batting her eyelashes. Rosalie looked disgusted, Alice looked horrified, while Emmett was surprisingly silent and Jasper kept throwing glances at me every two minutes. This was driving me crazy; I really needed to get a life away from the three couples that surrounded me.

My silent prayer seemed to be answered when a cute boy named Mike Newton came from across the cafeteria towards me. He would have been very attractive if I had eyes for anyone but Edward; it seemed I could only see him. H said hello to the people at the table, and smiled at me.

"Hey Bella, do you want to go to the Blue Jay charity Ball with me this Saturday?" I had heard about this event, almost everyone that had any social standing in New York had to go. All of the people in the table were going, but without a date I never planned to go.

"I'd love to Mike" I smiled at him.

"Great, here's my phone, put in your info, and I'll call you ok?"

"That sounds perfect"

"Bye Bella"

"See you Saturday Mike"

I really didn't have any interest in Mike Newton, I wanted to make Edward jealous, and I wanted him to see a beautiful, sophisticated me. Mike Newton was the easiest way to get there, but the first thing I needed was an incredible dress, and everything to go with it… I needed Alice.

I tried to sound really happy when I squeaked at Alice

"Oh My God! Alice you have got to help me!"

"Sure Bella!" Alice smiled but I could detect something hidden behind her desire to go shopping.

EPOV

I was telling Lauren countless idiotic things in her ear to keep up appearances in front of Bella when the idiot Mike Newton came to our table. I couldn't believe it when he asked Bella out. I wanted to scream at him. How dare he ask her to the Ball, MY Bella? I was even more surprised when she accepted, and looked truly happy about it. The day couldn't get any worse, first I had to talk to this deplorable girl in my arms, and then that rat asked her out. But not just out, but to a societal ball where I was going to be. I hadn't planned on taking Lauren, but now circumstances were forcing me the end of this climb might have been worth it, but the climb itself was going to be a nightmare.

Back at home Alice handed me a huge manuscript with the title "Unwanted Love" on the front."Alice what is this?"

"This is the manuscript to our play. I'm already designing the costumes, and our teacher already told us it was the best, so we are the ones that are going to show at the gala. Open it, you might find your characters bio familiar" she smirked at me and left.

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I opened it anyways, on the first page started the character biographies. I only read the first two, but that was enough for me.

Gabrielle Hughes: 17 years old, beautiful, with long brown hair and brown eyes. She is the daughter of the army general for the king's army, and is forced into a marriage with a man she believes is arrogant and proud. Only looking for love always looking at what's on the other side of her mountain (Charles) she didn't notice that what mattered most was her climb.

Charles Whitlock: 18 years old, tall, handsome, with black hair and stunning emerald green eyes. Charles Is a musical prodigy, the son of a rich man, yet quiet and reserved he never wished to marry someone like Gabrielle Hughes. He wanted love, not just looks, and didn't know that all the love he ever wanted was right in front of him the whole time.

What shocked me most was Charles's bio, he seemed a lot like… me. I grabbed the manuscript and ran to Alice's room.

"Alice what is this, is he, me?"

"Do you think that's you Edward?" she was smirking at me with her Alice-all-knowing smile.

"It seems to me like he is"

"That's what I thought when I read it too… I wrote the character of Gabrielle, but Charles, he's all Bella's making."

"You mean to tell me she shaped this guy, after me?" I was shocked, surprised, and exultant; she portrayed him to be handsome, special, the kind of guy girls swoon about in books…

"I'm pretty sure she did, that's why I find it strange that she only wants to be your friend… I don't think it's true Edward, you should have seen her the day you asked out Lauren, it was horrible, I'm pretty sure this is going to be easy actually. How's the whole Lauren thing working out by the way?"

"Ugh, Alice it's horrible, she won't leave me alone. She's constantly texting me, calling, showing up in the hallways in between my classes, I can't wait till I can end this charade."

"That bad huh?"

"Way worse than your thinking, she keeps on getting mad saying I'm moody. The only time I pay attention to her is when Bella is around."

"We all hate her you know? Everyone keeps asking me what's up with that, I hate keeping Jazzy out of the loop. Don't worry though bro, I got your back till you get her."

"So what are you going to wear to the ball… you have to look amazing, Bella's going to be there."

"Yeah, with him"

"She doesn't like him, I asked her, it's just for her to have a date to go with."

"That still doesn't make me feel better bout the fact he'll be dancing with her the whole night"

"Silly Edward, you must be crazy to think Jazz and Emmett will let her dance more than one dance with him. "

"Alice you said they didn't know" I practically growled at her"

"They don't, they're just in this little plan to keep Bella out of the clutches of Mike Newton. They love her too, as a sister of course. They absolutely loathe Mike, you should of heard them, they were so protective" she giggled "and of course, her prince charming Edward is going to dance with her to the most romantic song that comes up."

"Alice you are one dangerous, clever, but dangerous little pixie. Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"No problem bro, come on, let's go plan for the ball." Alice restored my faith, that and a little description of a friend, Charles.


	11. The Ball

**Songs to dance to in the ball: Can I Have this Dance (HSM3), Crazier and Love Story (Taylor Swift)**

I was getting ready for my sleep over with Alice, I had everything packed, and was looking forward to it, not only because I was going to get a girls night with my best friends, but also because I was going to get to see Edward.

The last week had been very peculiar to say the least. I took it upon myself to try to make him jealous. Whenever we talked it would both be about Mike or Lauren, and while as friends we were really close, I would have given up had it not been for the spark of anger I saw in his eyes the first time I brought up Mike to him.

I knew that deep down; he had to feel something, no matter how small it was for me. That small spark said it all, and it set me on a mission. I was going to make those feelings bubble to the surface, I was going to do everything it took to get him to notice me, and not just as his "buddy" Bella.

Instead of buying a gown for the ball Alice designed one for me. She however, hadn't even let me see it yet; she would only take my measurements, and tell me not to worry. She too took care of the shoes and accessories, paid for by my dad.

He had given me two credit cards, all of them with an unlimited limit. I had thanked him and told him it didn't need to be unlimited, but he had just shrugged me off telling me I could buy anything I wanted, whenever. The cards I had given to Alice for all the things she wouldn't let me see. We were all going to get ready at her house, Mike was going to go there too, and we would all leave together in a limo that my dad owned. Alice told me Edward was not happy with this arrangement, but he hadn't told me anything so I pretended to be joyous of Mike.

When I finally got to the Cullens, Esme hugged me, telling me how I didn't come to visit her enough. I apologized and she told me to go see the girls until dinner was ready.

Alice's room looked like it had been totally cleaned up. I could easily walk in it, something I had not been able to do. Her bright pink walls were free of all the designs it had posted up on it last time, and the floor wasn't full of fabric samples, or nail polish. There I found Alice and Rosalie, they both got up and hugged me, then called me over to continue watching the movie they were watching on Alice's giant screen (It came out of the Wall!). They were watching High School Musical… I felt like screaming, "Hello, I'm not twelve anymore". They would sing all the songs, and eventually I started to warm up to the songs, and total musical behavior, the breaking out in song every ten seconds thing was the only thing that really bugged me.

Esme called us to dinner, and Alice promised we would watch the second AND third movie after it.

I was happy to go to dinner, I hadn't yet seen Edward, and I got the now familiar jolt when he hugged me. Emmett, whose cheery attitude was contagious, kept on making jokes about having a blush competition. I immediately knew the two people he was talking about, and shocker I blushed.

"See, See" Emmett pointed "they're both redder than tomatoes, sorry Eddie but Bella looks prettier" he teased

"She always looks pret…" Edward looked shocked, and so embarrassed. I couldn't believe what I had heard, if I hadn't been looking at him when he said it I wouldn't have believed it had come from him. Edward looked at me, fear in his eyes, and I gave him a small smile. He sighed, and turned back to his chicken casserole.

After dinner Alice, Rosalie and I went back downstairs, where I watched the other high school musical movies on DVD. Alice and Rose would sing to the songs, dance the same moves, and say every line in the two. Finally, almost at one am I fell asleep. In my dream I was being chased by Troy and Gabriella, no matter where I went they would be there, singing twinkle twinkle little star in a harmonious tune.

When I woke up, I looked at the digital clock on Alice's bedside table. It was almost two in the afternoon. I looked up to see Alice walking around, her hair in curlers taking up garment bags and putting them on her wall hanger. Rose was slightly snoring next to me.

"Oh good you're up."

"Morning" I said groggily

"No time, we overslept, wake up Rose and get in the shower, make sure to wash your hair." I decided it was safest not to mess with Alice, she had an uncharacteristic all-business attitude that I would rather not get to know well. So I woke Rose up, got in the shower and washed my hair like she said.

The rest of the day we spent priming and pruning every inch of our bodies, till it was five and we had to get dressed. By now I had deduced my gown was blue, Alice had given me dark blue eye shadow, and blue sapphire and diamond earrings, my shoes were silver, with tiny diamond falling around my ankle. Finally, I got to put on my dress. Alice unzipped the bag and showed it to me…

EPOV

Emmett, Mike, Jasper, Lauren and I were waiting for the girls to come down the steps. Lauren was wearing a simple black ball gown that would have probably looked good if I had any interest in her. My mom had specified that we had to be at the bottom of the staircase, and not in the kitchen where we were waiting, so here we were.

My mom came down, followed by the girls. They all looked beautiful, but I only had eyes for the one in the middle. Bella was wearing a floor length deep blue gown. It was corseted at the top, with little sleeves, that left her shoulders bare. The dress had so much delicate work yet I saw none of it. There were beads of different shades of blue, and she was wearing a blue and diamond necklace. Her Hair had a slight wave to it, and it was down, in my favorite way. Her makeup was flawless, not that she needed it. Her eyes were smoky, her lips a light pink shade. She looked at me, not Mike but me, and smiled. She took my breath away. I had to remind myself I was with Lauren, because I would have walked to the steps, held her, and never let go. The other girls looked really good too; I could see Jasper and Emmett looking in awe at their girlfriends. Rosalie was wearing a tomato red dress that was backless, and had a plunging neckline, while Alice was wearing a black dress with geometric cut outs that looked wonderful against her pale skin.

We all got in the car, my mom looking at us with a smile of exultation. She was going to be there too, she was just going with my dad in a different car.

BPOV

The ball was amazing. It was my first big social event, and I was just so happy to be here. Mike looked really handsome in his traditional white tuxedo, but I was Edward that held my stare when I was coming down the stairs. He was wearing all black, looking amazingly like a Greek god. The color went perfectly against his skin. The fact that he was staring only at me the whole time also perked me up. Alice really had outdone herself.

The first dance I had was with dance, he told me I looked really pretty, and I thanked him as nicely as I could, I wanted him to have fun tonight, despite the fact that another guy was the one who held my heart. Mysteriously, that first dance was the only one I danced with Mike. In the second, Emmett cut in right at the beginning, leaving Mike to dance with Jessica, my somewhat friend from school. He didn't look too disappointed and I made a mental note to ask Jessica about how she felt about Mike.

Emmett laughed the whole time, telling me how he felt bad for my date for not being able to dance with me for the rest of the night. I was very scared, I was clumsy, so I didn't dance, but I was so happy today, I would dance my heels off.

After Emmett I danced with Jasper, while Edward was dancing with Alice. I had no clue where Lauren but I preferred his new partner way more.

After I finished dancing with Jasper, who I very strictly told I would kill if he ever hurt Alice I went off with my dad to meet his fiancée Sue.

"It's very nice to finally meet you" I told her honestly. She was very pretty, tall with dark hair, dark eyes and Indian looking skin. She reminded me of the beautiful Pocahontas.

"You too Bella, your dad is so proud, doesn't stop talking about his little girl. I would have expected you to be five" I laughed with her and after a moment heard the announcement of the last song before the dinner.

I saw Mike coming towards me, but was my view was obstructed by Edward

"Can I have this dance?" he asked offering his hand. I smiled and took it.

"Of course."

He put one hand on my wais, the other holding my right hand. He pulled me close, and I rested my head on his shoulders as he led me in a waltz, something I had never done before. I shuddered gently when he whispered in my ear

"You look beautiful Bella, most amazing girl in the room"

"Thank you Edward"

"No need, it's the truth"

"Where's Lauren?"

"She left"

"What, Why?" I asked truly surprised.

"She thought I was staring at a certain brunette too much, so she left. I think she expected me to follow her, you know like in the movies."

"And you didn't"

"I didn't"

"Why?"

"I have no interest in her, as was proved by my staring."

"You said you had waited a long time to go out with her"

"I lied"

"Why?"

"To make you jealous"

"Why? I was, well I couldn't find a word for what I was. Was he telling me the truth? Was he actually interest, had my plan worked? I couldn't help feel my hear speed up. I stared into his eyes waiting for a response.

"This is why…" and the he kissed me. It was the single most amazing feeling I had ever experienced in my entire existence. He kissed me gently, but with the thirst of ardent passion being bottled up. He tasted incredible, sweet, and soft. I just melted. I was nothing, I knew nothing, the world began and my blindfold was taken off, I had never lived before this.

Unfortunately we had to stop, both gasping for air. "Bella" he sighed, his forehead against mine.

EPOV

Kissing Bella was the best experience of my life. It was better than I ever thought it would be. She had been everything I wanted, and I now noticed I highly under estimated everything I was feeling until now. I stared straight into her eyes, she was looking at me, her expression full of something I couldn't exactly pinpoint, it looked like love.

"Do you want to get out of her?" he asked me

"I thought you'd never ask" I laughed

"Come on, I'll tell my parents."

I grabbed her hand, and went to Alice first. She was beaming at me and Bella, Jasper holding her not taking his eyes off of her but still smiling.

"Alice, I need you"

"It seems you've been saying that a lot lately."

"Bella and I will meet you guys at the house, can u get rid of the pest."

"Now that, Is something I will do. We'll talk later, k Bell?" her expression was full of curiosity and implications"

"Bye Alice, Jasper" she said

Afterwards we went to my parents, I told them we were leaving, and my mom just nodded happily swaying in my dad's arms. They had always loved each other, never letting go of their intense passion and adoration for each other.

I put my hand on her waist, and helped her into the car, kissing her again as soon as we sat down…


	12. Love Declarations

EPOV

Flashback

_I was dancing with Lauren, my hands around her, and imagining it was Bella. She looked so beautiful, it took all I had not to go over there and take her in my arms and tell her how I felt, how much I loved her, it was near impossible to keep my eyes off of her, the entire ball, even in the limo I had trouble even looking at Lauren when she was talking to me. I was staring at her, not even noticing Lauren trying to talk to me. Bella was dancing with Jasper. They looked very comfortable, and had it not been for Alice, and the fact that I knew he had eyes for none but her, I would have been superbly jealous. She looked really happy, Jasper said something, and she laughed, taking my breath away in the process. Her laugh was the most wonderful thing in the world. Bella was not the type of person to laugh at anything, her laughs had to be earned, when she laughed it was like a present from god himself. She looked over, and I got caught in her eyes. Deciding it was more practical to look away, yet hating myself for removing that beautiful view, I turned back too look at Lauren. _

"_This is complete bullshit Edward!" she shrieked at me, her face full of anger._

"_Lauren! Keep quiet, we are in public, don't you forget we have an image! No what the hell is wrong with you?" I angrily hissed at her, though quiet enough that no one else would hear._

"_You came here with me! You are going out with me! So what the hell are you doing only looking at that skank?"_

"_Firstly, if you ever call Bella that again I will personally kill you! And secondly, they are my eyes; they can look wherever they want!"_

"_Then why don't you go and get her? Everyone knows she wants you! What are you doing with me? I'm too good for you any ways! I'm out of here!"_

_Huh? Well that stopped me short. I was sure that she thought the look of shock on my face was because I was shocked she was leaving. She obviously had learnt nothing about me. I didn't give her leaving a second thought, I was inwardly glad she was finally out of my life. What really shocked me was that she had said Bella wanted me. That everyone knew it. Even though I knew our school was full of gossipy wanna-be's I couldn't help but feel something I hadn't felt in a long time… hope. I walked over to Bella I was going to do this…_

_End of flashback_

Bella and I were in the TV room. Throughout the entire limo ride we just held each other in a comfortable silence. We were watching what I learnt was Bella's favorite movie: A Walk to Remember. I made a mental note; any minor detail about Bella was major to me.

"Bella?"

"Yeah Edward?"

"I think we should talk"

"OK"

I turned to look at her straight in the eyes, holding both of her hands in mine.

"I'm sorry I was so forward with you tonight. My mom taught me better…" she tried to interrupt me. "No, please, let me finish. I'm sorry I was forward, but I'm not sorry that I kissed you. Not at all." She was smiling. "Ever since you came to school, with your boots, and clumsiness, not to mention your no hair band policy, I haven't been able to think about anything but you, no matter where I turn, all I see is you."

He eyes were wide, she looked stunned. I was afraid now, maybe she didn't feel the same way, maybe she just wanted to be my friend, maybe, just maybe I had laid my heart on the ground, and she would stomp it.

"Edward… I don't understand" I took in a breath. Had I heard right? It sounded like I had. Maybe I was crazy? What was there to not understand?

"What don't you understand Bella? I'm crazy about you, I have been ever since you got here"

"What about the text Edward? You said we were just friends, that you didn't want anything else with me."

"I lied. I did want you, but I didn't know how you felt, I didn't want anyone on my back for something that might never be…"

"So you went out with Lauren to make me jealous" it wasn't a question

"Did you go out with Mike to make me jealous?" I knew it probably wasn't true, she was sure to like Mike, he was a real charmer, but I was getting angry, she still hadn't told me how she felt and I was getting annoyed, I knew she was avoiding answering, maybe she didn't feel the same way and didn't know how to let me down easy…. I was sad now.

"Yes" she said in a small voice

Yes? Yes! She said Yes! Bella said yes! I didn't even think about it, I probably should have asked. Or not…

Bella was kissing me back! With as much enthusiasm as she could muster. She was making me leap for joy, her kiss was sweet, she had one hand on my neck, and the other tangled in my hair. I had one on her hand, the other tracing the other cupping her face. Soon, too soon we had to pull apart, gasping for air.

"Bella I love you…"

BPOV

"Bella I love you…" Edward looked so sincere, so truly in love."

I had thought about this, I had dreamt about it, but I never expected It to come true. I knew I had feelings for Edward, but did I love him? I could tell by the look in his face that he was hurt that I hadn't answered him, but I wanted to be sure. Him sad was the worst thing that could happen. When he was happy, I was happy, nothing mattered more to me than him, I loved him.

Edward got up, walking towards the door. I must have really hurt him, I would never forgive myself.

"Edward, stop!"

"Bella its fine you don't have to apologize. I was stupid to think that…" I had to stop him there, I would not let him continue looking so heartbroken, it was causing me physical pain just to see it.

"Edward, I love you too"

"…you would feel the sa…" he had talked through the whole thing

"…thing? You… you feel the same way?"

"Yes I do"

His sad look melted away completely and was replaced by one of pure joy, joy and love. He leaned in, looking straight into my eyes, his eyes were amazing, green pools full of emotions, emeralds that shone and lighted my path.

"You love me?" he asked as if he didn't believe me

"I love you Edward"

He laughed, and I felt myself floating upwards on cloud. I didn't notice I was really floating. Edward had taken me up, bridal style kissing me, while walking back to the couch where Landon was proposing.

We finished the movie. I cried, and Edward wiped my tears away, and we hugged, and kissed, completely happy. My eyes got heavy, and the last thing I remembered was looking into Edwards eyes before I fell asleep.

"Aww, they're so cute…" I heard a camera noise piercing through the quiet of my sleep. Then I heard a groggy voice coming from my side.

"Oh, mom, c'mon, put the camera away."

"hmm, Edward?" I asked, my eyes not yet adjusting to the light in the room.

"Bella, love, we have company"

My eyes had finally adjusted and I was embarrassed to see all the Cullens plus Rosalie and Jasper staring at us from the entrance to the room.

"Hi" I said, my face red. Edward squeezed me, his arms still around me

"It Worked!" Alice laughed coming towards us and giving Edward a dainty high five

"Of course it worked, you are a complete genius Alice" Edward smiled my favorite crooked grin and pecked me on the cheek.

"Alright!" Emmett grinned "It's about time, I like you so much more than Lauren, Bella!" I couldn't help but laugh as Emmett grabbed me from Edwards arms, off the couch and pulled me into a bone crunching hug.

"Emmett… can't… breathe!" I gasped. I felt myself being taken from one pair of arms, back into my favorite warm ones.

"Yeah, I like her way better than Lauren too" Edward grinned cheekily

"Well thank god!" Esme said an exasperated look on her face "I couldn't take any more of that annoying girl! What you ever saw in her eludes me" at that point we were all laughing, I especially. The Lauren-bashing was a good note in my book.

"I don't know about you, but I think the desert was horrible this year, ice cream anybody?" said Carlisle

"I'm in" I practically jumped, off the couch. Unfortunately, reality came back with me, and my previous gracious manner was all lost because I stumbled, tripping on my two feet and crashed back into Edward who was getting up both of us falling to the couch. Emmett's booming laugh was heard above the rest.

"Your way funnier than her too…" Emmet said between laughs.

"Come on" Edward said, trying to disentangle us so we could follow the rest to the kitchen. Once fully standing, I grabbed his hand, pulling him while running as fast as I could.

"Whow, Bella, slow down, what's the rush?" Edward said trying unsuccessfully to stop me.

"ICE CREAM!"

Edward laughed…

EPOV

Everything in life was good. Good? No. Better words would be wonderful, glorious, amazing, enchanting, and beautiful. That's why I hated to leave my life for two days. Bella was my life now, everything that was important to me, the thing that made my day, and made me feel like the happiest man alive.

It was the Friday right after Bella told me she loved me, and the amazement I felt at having someone so wonderful didn't elude me yet. Right now, I knew that I was going to be miserable, sad beyond compare when I left for England, but I had responsibilities. I was the best pianist in all of America, and I was highly demanded in the international media, so almost every weekend I had a concert. My parents tried to make it so they would mostly all be in the U.S. but it could not always be like this. At least once a month I had to go to a different country. My mom or dad would almost always come with me, but this time I was going alone, my mom had to break ground on a new building she had designed, while my dad had five surgeries on cancer patients at our clinic. I had told them I would be fine, mom had come to see me off, though she continued to profusely apologize the whole way to the airport. I didn't really listen, I was thinking of Bella. I was really sad she couldn't come to see me off, but she had told me she had a surprise and would see me soon. Not soon enough, I sighed to myself.

At the loading dock I kissed my mom goodbye.

"You can't go yet Edward" she told me

"Why?" I asked, already consumed by the misery of not seeing Bella for two whole days.

"Well…" she bit her lip, I smiled, Bella did that a lot.

"Because I haven't gotten here yet"

I was about to ask her what she was talking about (she was standing right in front of me) when I noticed her lips hadn't moved. Weird… I looked at her, asking how she'd done that when all I saw was darkness.

"Guess who?" a laughing voice came from behind me

"Bella?" I asked, feeling happiness swirl around me. She _had _come to see me off…

"You win" she took her hands off of my eyes and kissed my cheek, coming to stand in front of me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, smiling and hugging her

"Well…" my mom said "I felt horrible that you were going to make the trip all by yourself, so I called Bella and asked her…"

"If I could come with YOU!" Bella smiled, practically bouncing, "and of course, I said YES!"

"What? No way! Your coming?" I couldn't believe it, Bella with me. Not misery but light, happiness, Bella!

"Yes, I'm COMING OUT…" she started singing cheerily to the song "I want the world to know…"

"Wow. Mom, thank you, you're the best mother in the entire universe!" I let go of Bella to hug my mom and kiss her on the cheek.

"I know" she smiled "Now, go, and have a ton of fun, and take a million pictures for me"

She said giving her camera to Bella who took it, and immediately took a picture of us hugging.

"That's my girl" she smiled, and then whispered in my ear "I know I don't have to tell you this but please behave, and take good care of her… she's good for you, sweetie."

"I know mom, I'll never hurt her."

"I love you, you'll always be my baby Edward in my eyes, look at you, you're so big, and you're in love with a girl. I'll soon have to think about your graduation, and then you're wedding" her voice cracked on the last word.

"I love you too" I told my mom, who had tears in her eyes.

"Go on, have fun you too" my mom said, letting me go and hugging Bella

"I'll take care of him Esme, don't worry about a thing" Bella told her, winking at me.

"Ok, now go… oh shoot" she said, changing from a happy smile to anger in a millisecond.

"What is it mom?" I asked her, worried.

"Nothing, you just have an audience"

I looked towards where she was looking, my arms around Bella. I was blinded by a million white lights.

"Edward, where are you going?" a woman asked, a camera at her side

"Is it true you've just eloped with the police chief's daughter?"

"Are you going on your honeymoon?"

"Bella, how do you feel about getting married?"

Wow, so many questions at a time, I looked at Bella and all I saw was confusion in her eyes. She was not used to this yet, I was.

"No." I stated firmly. "I have not gotten married, I think I'm too young for that yet, I will be playing a concert in London tomorrow and Ms. Swan has agreed to accompany me, with permission from her father of course. I will also have my manager with me, so there will be adult supervision" I told them, looking down at Bella and giving her a wordless message that said "be careful what you say."

"Are you and Bella going out?"

"Yes, and I would prefer no more questions on that matter, I like to keep my personal life private. Now, I am sorry but we have a flight."

The questions didn't stop, but I kissed my mom, and with Bella in toe followed into the boarding lounge where luckily only passengers could be.

"I'm so sorry Bella", she still looked stunned, and a bit frightened, this was obviously the first time she had to go through that kind of thing.

"It's not your fault. You are the best, of course they want to know you, what I don't understand is how they know me?"

I chuckled, silently thanking god she wasn't mad at me.

"You'll find that while in Florida, you were just an average girl, here in New York, you're kind of a big thing. Beautiful daughter of Police Chief, heir to the Swan fortune, and dating well, I don't want to seem arrogant but America's most wanted bachelor."

"I knew I'd seen you somewhere before!" Bella grinned, smacking herself on the forehead gently.

"My friend back home, Rebecca, she's used to read all these magazines, one time I think she showed me… well, you. It was in people, or Ok! Or something like that."

"I'm pretty sure you did. I hate the paparazzi though, one time they said I was the unwanted child of the Cullen clan, saying how my mother hated me, my parents were distraught, my mom cried for a week, begging me not to believe them, as if I ever did."

"Why'd they say that?"

"I'll tell you the story on the plane; they're calling us to board."

I grabbed her hand, and sat down next to her on the comfy first class seats.

"They said that because of what happened when I was born…"


	13. Stories and Ravioli

BPOV

"They said that because of what happened when I was born"

I looked over at Edward, he was holding one of my hands, I could feeling the heat I felt whenever he touched me, but it was the look on his face that stunned me the most. He looked close to tears, his face was torn apart. I held his hand tighter, reaching for the other one, looking straight at him, I could tell this would be one story I wouldn't want to hear.

"I know this mostly because of what my father has told me, my mother rarely ever talks about it, it hurts her so much. My mom was 22 when she had me, my father and her had gotten married really young, she was 20, he was 22. A year later, she found out she was pregnant with me. Dad was convinced it was a girl, my mom knew better though. She always said it would be a boy. The whole pregnancy they would fight over baby names. Dad said I would be a Gabrielle, or an Elizabeth, mom said I would be Edward; it had been her father's name. When my mom was six months along, she had to go on bed rest, she was in the garden, and had accidentally tripped over some rosebushes, luckily she was barely scratched by them. However, I had a pretty bad turn in her stomach, and she had to lie in bed or else fear a miscarriage. She was as clumsy as you back then" he said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear and giving me a sad smile.

"The next month, they told her she could come out of bed, they said she had been doing really well and saw no trouble in the future. My dad wanted to argue, but he wasn't out of medical school and didn't want to risk being wrong and getting her upset. She still took it easy though, no gardening, they hired a cook, a maid, they were being really careful. One day, mom and dad were in the nursery, they were painting the walls. They had not yet decided if I was going to be a boy or a girl, and mom hadn't wanted to find out till she gave birth so they painted two walls pink, and one blue. Mom was reaching up, to paint the top part of her last wall, when all dad heard was a crash, and there mom was covered in blue paint and gasping for air. "The baby is coming" she cried. Dad said he was beside himself, I was only seven months old…"

I felt tears running down my cheeks

"Dad said the delivery was horrible, that so many bad things happened, they had to do an emergency cesarean. I was born premature; dad said he could practically fit me in his hand. In the end, after a month I was able to gain weight and get off of air support, the second month -the month when I should have been born- they were able to take me home. When dad explained to me what happened, it was the day the tabloids came out with that story he told me the whole truth, something I had never known. After mom gave birth to me, they told her she would never be able to have any more children."

I gasped, and hugged him, my tears now sobs

"Edward I'm so sorry, I never knew…"

"It's ok, my mom says she never once has regretted having me, but I know, deep down, they always wanted to have their Gabrielle, and there Elizabeth."

"Anyways, that's that. We put it in the past. Moms really happy now, she doesn't have a Gabrielle, or an Elizabeth but she has an Alice and an Emmett. She was sad when my aunt and uncle died, but after a while you could see how happy she was to have more children around the house. I even think they want to adopt soon, even though they haven't said anything to me yet. I'm especially happy of Alice, she is so like my mom, happy, bouncing, and they have good shopping partners in each other. Then, Rose and Jazz moved just downstairs, and she has them too, they're parents are always away so they practically live there alone, and my mom loves to mother them too. Soon she'll think of you as her daughter, if she doesn't already" He smiled, lifting my chin and giving me a small kiss.

"Edward, that's beautiful, a happy ending to a sad story…"

"Yup", he smiled at me again, this time the smile touched his eyes.

"So, now we have a seven hour flight, what're we going to do?" he asked me

"Whatever you want"

EPOV

The silence in the dark cabin was broken when the speaker came on.

"This is your captain speaking…" they were announcing the landing of our plane in London. It was almost nine there, four in the morning at home. (**I'm sorry if this is wrong, I don't know anything about time zones up there…=) ) **I looked down at Bella, who was sleeping in my arms. She looked peaceful, like an angel that had performed her duty. I couldn't help but think that she had… she had saved me from the loneliness that filled my life, a loneliness I never knew existed.

"Bella, love…"I gently shook her. She wasn't waking, her sleep was deep. I started kissing her, first her cheeks, then a line down her neck, her forehead, her nose, her chin, finally her lips.

"Well if I'll always be woken up like that then I'll have to start sleeping more." She laughed, her eyes still closed.

"We're landing"

"Oh, well that ruins my plan for more sleep…"

I smiled at her, and then frowned. She released herself from my arms. She was picking up her shoes from the floor, and was folding the blanket the attendant had given her. She looked so cute, her hair a mess, her movements graceful yet clumsy at the same time, I couldn't help but laugh.

**************************************************************************

The hotel where we were staying was one I knew well. I stayed there during all of my stays in London the Royal London Hotel. It was owned by my parents. It was huge, adorned in Gold, with a massive entrance, and old English Architecture. It had been in my family for a long time. My great grandfather Anthony Masen Cullen II had built it in the early 1900's. It was sad to think that Alice, Emmett and I were the only Cullens left to take over, once my parents were gone. Not that I wanted that to happen, ever! Unfortunately, my great grandparents only had one son, Charles Cullen, who had married my grandmother and given birth to my dad, Carlisle, and his younger brother, Jonathan. My uncle, Alice and Emmett's father, along with their mother Julianna had died, leaving me, Alice and Emmett as the heirs to all of this. Emmett was really good in the business area. He was a loving, bear of a brother, but when it got down and dirty, he could fight in the big leagues. Many people had said he would fail, when he took over his father's half of the Cullen Company (dad had the other half) but along with my dad, he was able to get the company to be even better than it was before. I always knew he could do it. We were all on the board, Alice, Emmett, dad, mom, and me, and while dad was president, we all knew he was only waiting to pass it over to Emmett, as soon as he finished college, all dad really wanted was to be a doctor. He was in charge of the entire medical area of the company, I was in charge of the charity, Alice of the advertising, mom of the building, and Emmett was vice to it all. I was secretly glad he was so good at it; I would never have wanted that responsibility.

I looked over at Bella, who was admiring the golden ceiling, her mouth wide in awe.

"Wow, this is beautiful"

"I know, it was the only hotel we didn't have to remodel at all"

"You mean this is one of yours?" she asked, still looking around as if she were a child, looking for the first time at Dylan's Candy Shop

"Yeah, you have one of yours across the road you know"

"Yeah, but I never really cared about the hotels, my uncle, he's the one that heads the company. My dad owns half, and I'm an only child, but I'll just let my cousin Gloria run it, I don't really care, I want to be a writer, I guess I'll help out, but I definitely not be the head." She looked stubborn, almost as if someone wanted her to head it, probably her dad.

"Well, we have to go to sleep soon" I told her, looking up and calling over one of the belboys.

"I'm not sleepy…" she practically whined "plus, it's so beautiful, and I'm hungry." As if in agreement, her stomach growled.

"Can I help you sir" the bellboy said, staring at Bella. HE WAS STARING AT MY BELLA! Unexpected anger shook me.

"Yes you can" I said, trying to keep my voice calm. I pulled Bella gently to me, kissing her on the cheek. I felt her blush.

"Can you please inform the manager that Edward Cullen has arrived?" I saw recognition dawn upon his unremarkable features.

"Yes sir, right away sir!" he said, rushing quickly away.

"Wow, Bella said, smiling up at me "he called you sir" she giggled.

"You'll find that a lot here"

The bellboy was rushing towards us, a stocky man in a good suit walking quickly behind him. He had a large mustache and was going bald, his eyes were dark, and he was giving me a wide smile.

"Mr. Cullen, how wonderful to have you here! I am Mr. Jones" he was beaming, offering me his hands. I already disliked that fact, seeing as that meant that I had to move one of them from Bella's waist.

"Edward Cullen" I answered him

He then offered his hand to Bella

"May I ask who this beautiful lady is?" he asked, offering his hand to Bella., who warmly shook it, and gave him one of her dazzling smiles.

"Yes, this is my girlfriend, Isabella Swan, I'm sure my mother informed you she would be accompanying me."

"Oh, of course, Ms. Swan, a pleasure to meet you."

"You too Mr. Jones" she responded lightly.

"Well if you will follow me, you will see everything is taken care of for your stay. Mr. Cullen, your publicist is here, and will be staying a room on the floor beneath you, you will have the penthouse suite… I have given her a key, on your mother's orders, and here are two keys for you and Ms. Swan." He said handing us the keys

"Thank you very much Mr. Jones, may I ask at what time the restaurant closes?"

"The restaurant closes at twelve, but if you desire to visit it, it will stay open. Shall I call them and tell them to reserve a table?"

"Yes, tell them we will be there in fifteen minutes, a table for three. I'm sure Bella will want to freshen up before dinner" I gave him a polite order, and he excused himself, walking away quickly.

The bellboy held the elevator for us, and slipped in a golden card; entries to high level suites required a key at the elevator.

As we waited, I took Bella by the waist again, and kissed her on the neck, I felt her shiver beneath me, and smiled at her reflection in the elevator mirror. She stared back at me, positively beaming, and looking at me with a smile of love and adoration. The elevator doors opened, and we came in to a large room, with a television, and a couch, as well as a love seat and a recliner. There were books on the walls and a music system. Two maids stood there, waiting for us. The bell boy left the suitcases, and asked if he may exit, I said yes, and gave him a hundred pound tip. He looked surprised and exultant; I would have given him more if he hadn't stared at my Bella.

The maids stepped forward and the first one, a red haired woman with blue eyes and freckles across her face spoke, she would have been very beautiful in any other company.

"Good evening Ms. Swan, and Mr. Cullen, I am Jill, and this is Mary, we will be your maids during your stay."

"Thank you very much, if you will please, lay our clothes in the closets, Ms. Swan will have the master, and then you may leave for the night."

"Right away sir, excuse us" the second one said, as they took up our luggage."

"Edward you should really have the master, you need to rest well…"

"I am having the master love, I just said that for pretenses, don't worry though, I'll be the perfect gentleman." I said kissing her cheek, and raising my eyebrows, causing her to laugh.

"That's fine with me she smiled! I'm going to shower quickly and change" she kissed me, and then left. Three minutes later the maids came to tell me they were finished.

"Thank you" I said, giving them each a thousand pounds.

"Sir," Mary gasped "this is too much"

"Nonsense, this is nothing at all. You will receive more throughout our stay"

"Thank you sir, said Mary"

"You're more than welcome" She left but the other one… Jill stayed.

"If there's anything I can do for you just let me know Mr. Cullen" I could tell she was trying her hardest to be seductive. I was disgusted, and shocked, not to mention angered.

"There is nothing I could possibly want from you than a maid, and it would do you well to remember that I am here with a woman I love, and have no interest in any other" I gritted through my teeth. "You can go now"

"Yes sir" she said, her eyes dark, a frown on her now ugly face.

I quickly went into the bathroom, showered and changed into a dark blue shirt with a pair of jeans, and black sneakers.

Bella was waiting for me in the TV room, she looked gorgeous in a pair of skinny jeans and a pretty purple baby-doll blouse, I pulled her close, smelling her wet hair, it smelled like strawberries.

"You ready for this?" I asked? I knew she understood what I meant. Ready for England?

"Yeah, come on" she smiled, giving me a peck and grabbing my hand.


	14. Bella's Lullabay

BPOV

Dinner was hilarious. We had a private elevator, and as soon as Edward pressed the ground floor button I kissed him with as much passion as I could.

"Whow, Bella" he gasped, as soon as I was done (It was a long ride to the bottom) "where did that come from?"

"I heard what you told that skank, how dare she!" I was secretly so proud of his answer, so elated with joy that he had ignored her so completely, she had been sooo pretty!

"All I told her was the truth" he told me, kissing me again. It only made me want to kiss him again. I groaned when the elevator door opened, and heard him give a small chuckle, looking amused.

In the lobby Edward led me towards a tall dark woman, with curly black hair, and hazel eyes. She looked like an exotic princess. She was not dressed like a princess however, she was in a navy suit, with a crisp white shirt underneath. She had a PDA in her hand and was texting furiously when she looked up and smiled softly before texting back and putting the PDA in her purse.

She walked towards us, meeting us halfway.

"Edward" she said hugging him gently

"Hey Kate, how are you?"

"Great, we have a few thing to go through you know" she told him, letting him go and coming to shake my hand.

"Hi Bella, it's amazing to finally meet you, Edward hasn't shut up about you. I'd say he didn't do you justice, but by the way he describes you, well let me just say, you have definitely got him whipped" she winked at me."

"Bella, love, this is Kate, my manager and publicist."

"It's really nice to meet you" I told her honestly. She looked like a really serene person, calm, and collected.

"Well Bella I'm really sorry, I'm going to have to talk some business with Edward, I hope I don't put you out too much, I'm really ignorant of others when I'm in business mode." She gave me a smile, as we walked through the doors to the restaurant.

"Oh, its fine, we're here for Edward's concert, everything else is just a bonus."

"You found a good one" she smirked at Edward.

"Good evening, my I take your names please." Said a hostess by the door.

"Cullen, table for three" said Edward. Like before the hostess's facial expression changed immediately.

"If you would please follow me sir, we reserved the best table for you."

After we sat we were immediately attended, and I was shocked to see the same maid that had hit on Edward ask us for our order.

"Can we have a moment?" asked Kate

"Definitely" she smiled, staring at Edward. I wished I could smack that smile off her face, but all too soon she left.

"Bella I'm so sorry" Edward said, his face both angered and worried.

"It's fine; it's not your fault."

"Am I missing something here?" asked a confused looking Kate

"Oh nothing, that waitress was just very forward with Edward while she thought I was in the shower" I told her, sighing in exasperation.

"NO!" gasped Kate, looking angered

"Don't worry about it Kate, she's just jealous" I told her, knowing it was silly to get angry since it was me who got to call this angel mine.

She soon came back, and Kate glared at her, though she obviously didn't notice since she was only looking at Edward who was looking at me the whole time, he didn't even look up to acknowledge her presence, or give her his order.

"Bella, _love,_ what would you like?" he stressed the love part when he asked, and I could see the waitress trying to give him a sexy pout. He didn't even notice.

"I'll have the mushroom ravioli and a coke."

"I'll have the same" said Edward.

"I'll have casian shrimp on the ribbon pasta, and an orange juice" Said Kate

"Right away" she said, looking at Edward sweetly, glaring at me and Kate

"She did not just do that!" Kate said angrily.

"What?" asked a confused Edward. I smiled, seeing that she had no effect on him whatsoever.

"Oh, don't worry about it Edward, you just continue giving Bella gooey eyes, I'll take care of it" she said winking at me.

"Now, to get down to business." She said her face completely changing into an executive mask, "your starting with the etudes and are ending with the fantasie impromptu."

"Actually, I was thinking of ending with one of my compositions" Edward told her, grinning at me. Wow! He composed too, was there anything he couldn't do?

"Really, which one? PixieWings? Mother's Joy? Another?" asked Kate, looking excited.

"I'll say it there. I'm going to introduce it." Edward told her, his face showing excitement and nervousness.

"Really, you are? You never introduce your music; you don't even talk throughout the whole concert!"

"Well let's just say I'm really glad to be playing it. I just finished it."

"Well that's wonderful! Another thing, there's been a lot of buzz about you and Bella, honestly I think it's excellent, I mean you are sold out in the biggest London stage, I just must warn you, there will be press, even more than usual, my phones been ringing non-stop. "

"That's fine, as long as they ensure nothing bad comes out trashing Bella, I don't care. Make sure to scan through anything that is said."

"Don't I always?"

"Of course" Edward said, softly as If embarrassed.

The conversation was cut short when the food arrived. The waitress with three plates in her hand. Kate got up quickly and "accidentally" slammed into the waitress, all three plates turning into her, and falling to the floor, but not before getting her entire face plastered with mushroom ravioli. Her hair full of shrimp and a disgusting looking stain all the way down her neatly tucked shirt and her white skirt.

"Oh, I am so sorry, I was getting up to go to the bathroom" said Kate between laughs. Please do forgive me. Edward and I were laughing, both of us clutching our sides, Edward turning a deep read as if from lack of breath.

"Of course!" She practically shrieked. Her face turning purple under the ravioli sauce.

"Make sure to bring us new plates as soon as you can" Edward said his voice cold.

"Right away" she said, grabbing the first opportunity to run away.

"Kate you are officially my second favorite person" I laughed

"Second?" she said acting hurt

"Edward will always come first, sorry" I told her, giving her a sad face.

"Aww, you two are adorable."

"Hold that thought" I told her, taking out the camera and snapping a picture of her and Edward, then giving it to Edward so he would take one of us, and then Kate, for one of me and Edward.

We smiled, and took a picture of the waitress as she came back with our food, her hair and clothes still food of our last order.

"Here you go" she said smiling fakely

"Thank you so much" I told her, smiling and kissing Edward on the lips.

"Anytime Ms. Swan" she said grumpily leaving us.

We laughed at her picture throughout the entire night.

***************************************************************************

EPOV

I prepared myself to go on, looking through the heavy curtain and focusing on the gorgeous brunette in a long ivory silk dress. My angel vision came true when I saw her walking towards me that evening, dressed in white, small white rose clips take up her long hair off her face, small tendrils flowing down her face. Her hair up in an elegant twist. I thought back to this morning, closing my eyes and remembering the best sleep I ever had.

_Flashback_

_I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Bella's face, her eyes closed, her expression relaxed and peaceful. She was snuggled up to me, one arm around my waist, the other curled up against my chest. I had one hand around her waist; the other was under her and around her shoulders. I had never slept so peacefully, so wonderfully, I would have to sleep like this more often._

_End of Flashback_

I sighed happily closing the curtain as I heard my name

"Please let me welcome Mr. Edward Cullen" said the announcer to a roaring applause.

I walked onto the stage, taking a bow, looking directly towards Bella, and giving her the most dazzling smile I could muster. I saw her give me one of her own, and I had to make sure I paid attention to my keys rather than only concentrate on her smile.

I sat down on my piano bench, and let my fingers take off. I felt amazing, like I did every time I played. I went from the etudes to a complicated Mozart, then to Beethoven, then to Bach, followed by a Yiruma composition, followed by my favorite, Chopin's last Fantasie Impromptu. I could feel the awe in the air as I fed off the waves of incredulity and amazement. I finally finished and was greeted by heartfelt clapping; they always left the standing ovations for the end. I smiled, and for the first time ever, leaned into the attached microphone. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen" I felt the gasps when they heard my voice: It was well known that Edward Cullen did not speak during a concerto, e would only concentrate on giving the audience the best performance he could. "This evening I will end my concerto with a composition of my own" I heard the clapping, and smiled, "…yes, thank you very much, this composition was recently written for someone I care very much about, and it carries her name, I hope you all love it, let me introduce you all to: Bella" I heard more clapping and then silence as I started to play.

BPOV

"Bella"

I gasped as soon as I heard the name of Edward's song. My name, he wrote a song for me, this night was truly one of magic and wonder. Hearing Edward play was like hearing God's music. He was amazing, his fingers gracefully dancing through the keys, his face a mask of peace and calm. As soon as he spoke I felt a shudder through me, his voice could do wonders, I heard other gasps, and I knew it was because he never spoke. When he played my song I felt tears in my eyes, it was so beautiful, it was the song he had hummed to me yesterday, when we fell asleep in each other's arms. It was the most amazing and complex composition I had ever heard, he would have had made Beethoven full of rage and green with jealousy. The tears continued all the way through the song, and as soon as he finished I was on my feet clapping. Everyone around me was standing too, I couldn't see anyone actually sit down, and the theatre was huge, the biggest in London!

He smiled, walked forward and bowed, then he looked at me, and gave me an almost invisible wink, mouthing I love you.

"I love you too" I mouthed, beaming at him through his tears. He bowed, and took his exit to a still standing audience. I would see him at the reception that would be given in honor of his performance.

As soon as I saw him, standing with Kate and saying hello to a middle aged couple I walked to him, hugging him as hard as I could, and kissing him. I didn't even care that there was like a million people there to see…

"Edward, that was so beautiful"

"I'm glad you liked it, it was for you after all" he said, kissing my hair and holding me close

"I loved it; it's the most wonderful thing I have ever heard in my entire life, you are amazing, I never imagined…"

"I was played better tonight than I ever have before, I knew you would be listening"

That just made me want to hold him tighter, but unfortunately he did have a crowd to greet. He kept one hand as he graciously accepted commendations and thank-you's from men in crisp white tuxedo's and women in ball gowns wearing what looked like a million diamonds and beautiful gems around there body. One man, that looked really old and was accompanied by a woman that helped him walk (I assumed she was his nurse) hugged Edward tightly, and smiled at me.

"You were amazing; I think I know why don't I? He laughed looking at me.

"Bella this is my grandfather, Sir Edward James Brandon, my mother's father, and the reigning Edward of our family." Edward smiled at me, giving his grandfather an adoring look.

"Oh, Edward, I never knew, it's very nice to meet you Mr. Brandon."

"Nice to meet you too Bella, I now understand the unusual title my grandson gave to the best composition he's ever made. I'm so proud" he was practically beaming,

"Grandfather, this is Isabella Swan, Laurence Swan's granddaughter."

"I would invite you to lunch, beautiful Bella, but I know are leaving early tomorrow, so all I can do is wish you well, this old man has already stayed up passed his bedtime."

I laughed, and shook his hand as he said goodbye to Edward and me. An hour later, Edward and I finally made it to the hotel, exhausted we crashed onto the bed, falling asleep, not even taking off our formal attire.

******************************************************************************

EPOV

That morning I read the newspaper as I waited for Bella to wake up. What caught my eye the most was a large picture of me and Bella on the cover of the social pages, and one of me bowing on the cover of the entertainment review of the London Times, England's most important newspaper.

_Of all the performances I have heard, from this young prodigy, as well as from the most noted musicians of our time I have never been stunned into silence. While before I have reviewed Edward Cullen as a great example of technique and artistry, I have never seen in him the passion and love that I saw yesterday. While his interpretations of Chopin, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Yiruma would have shunned the masters into oblivion, it was his last composition, one written by him, that truly demonstrated all this great talent has to offer. "Bella" was just as the name would indicate, a beautiful and complex piece, that sang of love, joy and passion, of all else I have heard from him, it is this piece that will get him in the ranks of the great master of the piano, and will keep him there for much longer than the young man will ever live, only to be remembered forever._

_Written _By_: Jonathon Grahams_

Jonathon Grahams said this about me? I was overjoyed. He was the most precise, knowledgeable critic in the business; many an artist had fallen in disaster because of his reviews. When I was fourteen he called me naïve, and ignorant of true art. At fifteen he said he was glad I had learnt technique. At sixteen, he had told the world how pleased he was with my newly attained artistry, and now he called me a master? He compared me to Beethoven? I was speechless. I was incredulous, and happy, I knew the reason.

I looked at the cover of the social pages.

Under the picture of me and Bella, my hand around her waist, looking at each other, I could tell we looked pretty in love.

Under the beautiful picture I clipped out, was the caption "Edward Cullen stuns London society with his best performance ever, dedicated to girlfriend Isabella Swan, seen above"

I laughed; stunned was a good word to describe it. Just then Bella walked in, her eyes still droopy, her hair a mess, in a pair of shorts and a white cotton t-shirt.

"Morning" she said, kissing me on my cheek and grabbing my half empty cup of coffee from my hands, putting it to her lips. I smiled, "there's more you know" I laughed, pointing at a tray with coffee, waffles and orange juice.

"Good, you'll need it" she grinned at me, taking another gulp of my coffee.

"You know we have to pack soon. We have school tomorrow"

"Ugh, school"

**I'd really appreciate some reviews, I'm kind of worried no one likes it, and I might give up on it. I'm trying my hardest not to, cause I know some of you are interested, but I would really like to know from any of you what you think, even if it's horrible and you want to tall me it sucks.**


	15. Introductions

**So I made some adjustments to the playlist, I had to make sure Edward and Bella really worked for their love, it's all about the climb after all, the song for this chapter is Right here right now, and the adjustments to the soundtrack are as follows. Right after Right here Right now we have, Crazier (Taylor Swift), Take a bow (Rhianna), Don't want to lose you now ( Backstreet Boys), Show me the meaning of being lonely (BSB again), If I were a boy (Beyonce), Don't forget (Demi Lovato), 7 things (Miley Cyrus), When your gone (Avril Lavigne), No air (Chris Brown and Jordin Sparks), Hate that I love you (Rhianna and Ne-yo), Pero me acuerdo de ti (Christina Aguilera), Everyday (HSM 2), Music of My heart (NSYNC), Our song (Taylor Swift), Love Story (Taylor Swift, The climb (Miley Cyrus). Everything before that stays, so sorry for such a long authors note… **

I gave Bella a kiss as we stepped out of the car my mom had sent us. We took the long elevator ride up to our house, holding each other, completely blissed out in our world of love. I barely even noticed when the elevator let up and I was embraced by my entire family, plus Bella's father, and his fiancée, Sue. My mom looked so happy; I knew she was overjoyed I had found someone to love. It had been very difficult in the past, looking at my mom and dad, Alice and Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie and truly think I would never get to know that feeling. I hadn't ever realized how alone, how empty I was until I had Bella. Nothing had ever made sense before. I knew I was in way over my head, laying my heart on the line, giving myself up so completely to one person. I also knew Bella. No matter how short the time I understood her, I knew how she hated attention, though she would take it if it meant time with me. I knew how terrified she was of dancing, yet she would do it to make me happy, or jealous. I knew how much she missed her mom, how much she loved her dad, and even though she didn't show many emotions around him, just like he didn't, I knew she was a true daddy's girl, and worried about him, his job, his well being. I knew that her favorite color was blue, and she always looked radiant in it. I knew she hated green, and had made a mental note to remove all traces of that color from my closet. Yet I knew she loved the colors of my eyes, she had told me while she hated green, that my eyes were her favorite color in the world. It was such a contradiction I had laughed at her, telling her she made no sense, yet fully understanding: I had never been a fan of brown, but staring into her beautiful eyes it was impossible not to love the color. I also knew that whenever I kissed her she would blush. When she was angry, she would cry tears of rage, and when I whispered in her ear I would cause shudders to run down her spine. I knew that when she was sad, she would want to be held, and that in her dreams, she would always love me and want me to stay with her, she also slept better when I was around, and she was grouchy in the morning before her hot coffee, which she took black, two sugars. I knew her favorite ice cream was chocolate chocolate chip brownie, from Haagen Dazs, and that her favorite movie was a walk to remember. But more importantly I knew how she felt when she would zone out and think about her mother, I knew how much she loved me. I knew every spot of gold in her eyes, every long curl on her head. I knew where every bit of red and black was, and knew it was a natural part of her. I knew how soft she could be when she slept and I knew how badly I was in love with her. I knew that no matter how long I lived nothing would ever be more important than her, my angel, my Bella. I was sad to let her go, England had been so wonderful, words didn't even describe it. Bella walked to her dad, kissing him on the cheek.

"Bells, I missed you" her dad laughed.

"I missed you too dad."

"Here I brought you some people I want you to meet." Through the crowd I saw two boys. I immediately got protective, shaking hands with Charlie and grabbing Bella's hand. I wanted to make sure they understood my silent warning _SHE IS MINE. _Standing a bit apart from the rest of the group were two boys. They were practically identical, except one had a long dark ponytail, while the others hair was cropped short. They looked a lot like Sue, but they were taller, and looked like they were really strong. Both of their eyes rested first on Bella, then quickly on me. They almost in unison nodded practically imperceptibly, they understood my warning. Good. I could allow myself some slack, I tried to let go, and started to walk back, but Bella kept a hard grip on my hand, spinning me back to her. "Don't leave" she whispered. "I won't" I promised.

"Bella, Edward, the rest of the family has met them, only you are left…" He gave a nervous chuckle, looking at Bella slightly worried.

"well, Bella, sweetie, you know how I proposed to Sue, and she accepted" he was smiling lovingly over at Sue, but then his face grew serious again. "Well, since she'll be moving in with us, it is necessary I introduce you to her sons, your step brothers. This is Seth" he said indicating the one with the short hair. "… and that Is Jacob" he said, indicating towards the twin with the long hair.

"Brothers" whispered Bella, tears in her eyes. I could tell Seth and Jacob were just as nervous about this as she was; they looked at her as if she was a prize someone had given them.

"Only if you want them to be" said Sue looking truly worried, "you could also think of them as just friends."

"Brothers" said Bella, letting me go and walking up to them, embracing them in a hug. I always wanted a brother, now I have too!" she smiled through silent tears. I could see Sue silently crying into Charlie's chest, and my mom dabbing at her eyes.

"Well, how about a welcome home, welcome to the family dinner?" said my dad, embracing my mom.

"We wouldn't want to impose" said Sue.

"Nonsense, I was already planning a feast, and with Emmett in the house you always have to have a ton of food…" said my mom, beaming at me.

"Hey!" said Emmet, faking anger! "What about those two" he said pointing at Jacob and Seth "They look like they could eat everything you made each!" Jacob laughed, while Seth bounced towards me, he was as tall as I was.

"You're on! Said Jacob, clapping Emmett's back. The entire family had to eat downstairs in the formal living room, since our informal one only fitted eight, and with, Jacob, Sue, Charlie, and Seth we were a total of twelve.

"Honestly, the way the family is growing I'll have to start making food for 20!" laughed my mom, looking around the table. Mom and dad were sitting on either end. Charlie was next to my dad, and Sue was next to him, followed by Jacob, Emmett and Rosalie. Bella was on my dad's other side, of course I was sitting next to her, while Seth sat next to me, giving me light, and funny chatter, while Jasper was his calm self next to him, Alice bouncing next to him and my mom. I internally chuckled; those two were perfect at cancelling each other out.

Seth I learned was in his junior year, just like Bella, Alice and Me, and along with Jacob would be starting St. Jude's this week, along with us. "The guys outnumber us now!" bounced Alice.

"Well not really. I have a girlfriend, she goes to Constance, her name is Leah" said Jacob.

"Leah Kent?" shrieked Rose

"Yeah" said Jacob, afraid.

"Oh, I just love her, she is so NICE!" Rose laughed." I could feel Jacob let out a sigh of relief, as Seth took the floor.

"My girlfriend goes to Constance too, I think you know her, I mean she's mentioned you before, her name is Angela, Angela Weber."

"Oh, I know her" said Bella gently. "She's really sweet, such a good girl, something hard to find at Constance."

"Yeah, she's wonderful." Said Seth, a glassy dazed crossing his features. Until a hard thud was heard under the table and Seth got up, howling in pain.  
"Jacob behave yourself" snarled Sue, not noticing everyone in the table, along with my parents was laughing at Seth's expression.

All too soon Bella had to say goodnight. She had to go home with her father. I sighed, not wanting her to go, the nights were so much better with her in it. She kissed me gently, hugged the rest of my family and got in the elevator, her eyes on me as the doors closed all too quickly.

I turned around to my family. They were all staring at me… "Family Meeting" said my dad, staring at Rosalie and Jasper, "You too"

We followed him into the table at the informal bedroom. My dad at the head, my mom on his right, me on his left. Alice and Jasper next to my mother, Emmet and Rosalie next to me.

My father looked really angry, angrier than the time I took his medical things and decided to play doctor with Alice. I was eight, and very close to cutting her when my father walked in, rage filling him. My father was normally a peaceful man, I never saw him so angry again, until now.

He threw a newspaper on the table, I saw a photo of me smiling, it was from the London Times.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen!" he practically barked, each word filling me up with dread and fear. Then his features changed completely, he was beaming. "Your best review ever!" I sighed in relief; he opened the newspaper and started reading

"…_While his interpretations of Chopin, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Yiruma would have shunned the masters into oblivion, it was his last composition, one written by him, that truly demonstrated all this great talent has to offer. "Bella" was just as the name would indicate, a beautiful and complex piece, that sang of love, joy and passion, of all else I have heard from him, it is this piece that will get him in the ranks of the great master of the piano, and will keep him there for much longer than the young man will ever live, only to be remembered forever."_

My father was practically crying when he finished. My mother and sister were in tears, the rest of them their mouths open in awe.

"I have never been so proud of you in my entire life" said my dad, hugging me.

"Thanks dad" I said, happy but embarrassed.

"I wish I would have been there to hear it…" said my mom

"How about, next week we get all of our close friends, all of the family, and have you play it?" asked Alice, happy for her new plans.

"Great!" I said.

"WOW!" said Emmett, "Edward's is WHIPPED!" he laughed, the rest of the family joining in.

"She's good for you" smiled my dad.

Rosalie came over, hugging me around the neck

"If you hurt her, I WILL hunt you down and kill you!" she threatened.

"Wouldn't dream of it" I laughed

***************************************************************************

The next week of school was great. Our table had gotten more crowded, so as an introduction to our new group, we had Leah, Angela, Set and Jacob join us. We had taken another table, to join it with ours, and in the middle of the cafeteria Emmett decided to let everyone know that they had joined our group. It was a big deal, this would make their social standing get highly elevated, though I doubted anyone cared about that.

When we were all seated, Emmett got up and stood on his seat.

"YO!" he shouted. The room immediately fell quiet.

"This here is Jacob, Seth, Leah and Angela, they are part of our crew now so if you mess with them, well, you know what will happen" he laughed, "let's not forget what happened to James Pierce when he tried to hit on my sister Alice. I hope you got the message, LATER!" Emmett ended.

"What happened to James Pierce?" Asked Seth and Bella at the same time.

"Let's just say he had to go far far away. We made sure he never hit on any other girl in the school, he had to move to Kansas, where people don't have internet." Smirked Jasper

"What? How?" asked Jacob

"We accidentally registered as a sex offender in all of the states, and got it accidentally sent to the principal" said Emmett

"NO!" gasped Bella

"YES!" I laughed, along with everyone else.

School was a happy place. Bella had finished her play; I had gotten the role of Charles, while Britney, a pretty girl in her senior year would play Gabrielle. We were going to start rehearsing soon, and I was excited to test out my acting chops. Jacob and Bella had become pretty close, but I had been assured by both him and Bella it was just a brother-sister love. While Seth and I had become great friends. He had a pure, joyous heart, and a contagious happy aura that would always seem to be contagious. I had everything I wanted in life. It's amazing how one moment everything Is wonderful, then the next you lose everything, your friends, your music, your love, your life. I didn't know, had no Idea that exactly that would happen to me. If I had known I would have held on tighter, enjoyed it longer, loved her and never let go. But I didn't know, so I never did those things, I lost it. I lost her…


	16. Empty

EPOV

Tragedy, silence, hate… this is the story of how I lost her…

_We had become a really close group in a matter of days. Bella, Rosalie, Alice, Leah and Angela were all so different, yet so alike. They had become practically inseparable Jacob had proved to be a crack up, almost as funny and laughable as Emmett, Seth was one of my best friends. It was now Halloween, and tonight we would have a costume ball at the school, all of us would be staying at my house. The Emmett, Jasper and I went as vampires. We dressed in all black, with capes and everything, the fangs were hilarious, but I would only put them on for our entrance. Emmett had his own on since morning. Seth and Jake were going as were-wolves. It was hilarious seeing Jake throw his hair out of his usual pony tail, darken his eyes. And wear all brown, putting on yellow contacts. Seth did the same, except he put on a fake beard and fangs. I laughed the whole time, and when we were all ready my mom couldn't stop taking pictures of the five of us. _

_Again, she insisted we wait at the bottom of the staircase for the girls, something about a dramatic entrance, and as we waited Jacob started fooling around, trying to wrestle a fanged Emmett. He was caught in mid jump when the girls came down. He stared and fell to the floor, agilely getting off his feet, his eyes on Leah. I looked up, and gasped, my angel…_

_Rosalie was dressed as a sexy red devil suit, horns and pitchfork and all. Her hair was up, and she had red colored contacts in, her lips were a deep red and her eyes were lined in black. Alice was a pink pixie. She was wearing pixie wings, and a cute pink dress that was spiked at the end. She looked like Tinkerbell I thought, her wings were blue pink and purple, and around her head she a wreath of pink and purple flowers, her hair was its usual spiky do. Leah was dressed as an Indian princess, her long dark hair out, a feather tucked in a band that crossed her forehead, she looked like Pocahontas. Angela was a very simple Greek goddess. Her hair was up, and she was wearing a beautiful Greek-style black dress/toga that fell to the floor. Lastly was the only one who held my thoughts, my Bella. I always knew she was an angel sent down from heaven. Bella was dressed as my vision always dressed her. She had a wreath of white flowers on top of very curly long hair. She was wearing a beautiful knee-length dress in white with gold accents, and behind her peaked a pair of white wings, she was beautiful._

_The dance was amazing, lights, dancing all the works, I could see Lauren Mallory give Bella a bad look when she walked in looking as heavenly as she did, she was I suppose some form of a Cat, she looked like a twenty cent hooker I thought. It wasn't that however that ruined my night, nothing ever could, we partied, had fun, we were so happy, cheerful nothing could get in our way. When we got home we were all going to stay in the tv room, there were mattresses that covered the floor, and pillows everywhere. Bella and I walked hand in hand, I was going to let her into Alice's room to change into her pj's then we would go back together. My room was dark, I didn't care, I felt under the pillow for my pajamas, and started undressing. That's when I heard a noise coming from the closet. As soon as I turned, in nothing but my boxers and was attacked, I fell on the bed someone was on top of me. I saw the light turn on, and that's when I saw her… Bella was at the doorway, her eyes wide and full of tears, and on top of me was Lauren Mallory in nothing but her underwear, trying to cover me in kisses. I pushed her off of me as hard as I could, all se did was smile. I ran after Bella, but she was already gone…_

That night I didn't sleep. We were out looking for her all night, her father called some of his police buddies, no one could find her. We were all in Charlie's large house when the phone rang

"Hello?" said Charlie worriedly

"Bella!" Immediately he had everyone's attention. "Are you ok? Yes I am, Yes he's here, you sure you want to speak to him?" I felt relief, maybe I could explain to her this wasn't my fault, she wanted to talk to me. I was waiting for Charlie to call me, "Jacob? Bella wants to talk to you" JACOB? She wanted to talk to Jacob? WHY? I felt anger and hurt, fear and pain, I had to talk to her.

"Bells, where are you, we're worried sick!" said Jacob, "Yes I know, no I didn't know why!" He glanced at me, anger in his eyes. "Stay there, I'll be there in twenty minutes, of course you know I'd do anything for you, yes, Bells, stay there ok?"

I looked a Leah; she looked worried, almost as if fearful.

"I have to go" said Jacob, I stood up standing in his way

"Where is she?" I practically growled

"That's none of your business anymore! Get out of my way before I tell them what you did!" with that he walked away, soon to disappear through the elevator doors.

"WHAT-DID-YOU-DO!" screamed Rose, barely keeping her temper in check.

"NOTHING!" I defended.

**************************************************************************

BPOV

I waited for Jake by a small coffee shop, open late in the meat packing district. I could barely keep myself from having a meltdown, but the tears were free falling down my face, more than once I got strange looks from the waitress who brought me coffee. I was in my pajamas; all I had was a black coat, and purple uggs to cover me from the cold. After ten minutes I saw a tall dark figure walking towards me quickly.

"Bella, are you ok?" Jacob asked me desperately, looking me over and grabbing me in a hug

"M'fine"

"What happened, tell me everything…"

I told him about Edward and Lauren, how I had seen them, at one point the tears were too much and I couldn't continue, he held me, never letting go, told me how he loved me, how he always wanted a sister, how he was going to kill Edward. I continued crying hysterically for almost an hour When I finally got control, not that I stopped crying, I told Jacob to call dad, make sure that there was no one other than the family there. When he called, I could hear someone screaming "I NEED TO TALK TO HER" then a lot of arguing. My father told Jacob to wait a half hour, and then come home. We sat down, Jake put his arms around me, and I started to cry again. After a while he hailed a taxi and I went home.

My dad was angry at Edward, proud of Jacob, worried because of me, so many different emotions. He wanted to talk to me, but Jake told him to give him some space. He said I needed "wallow-time" I went to bed that night and cried myself to sleep.

**************************************************************************

EPOV

Bella didn't come back to school any day of the following week. By then, the lines had been drawn, and my family was split in two. The night after the incident Jacob called Alice and told her everything. Rose and Alice were beside themselves. They wouldn't talk to me, look at me, even be in the same room as me. I couldn't explain to them, because they wouldn't listen. Emmett and Jasper tried to talk to them, they started ignoring them too. In the cafeteria our table was divided, Leah, Jacob, Rose, and Alice sat in one table, as far as possible from us, Seth, Angela, Japer and Emmett sat with me. Rose and Alice would throw me dirty looks, and Emmett and Jasper were wallowing because their girl friends were ignoring them. Everything was darkness. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, and I didn't play the piano. I cancelled my concerts for a month. I cried, I Edward Cullen cried like a baby in my bed. My mother didn't know what to do, my father was depressed at the split in his family. Everything that I ever had, gone.

I had to do something. I couldn't lose her; I never thought that I would lose my mind. I knew what was wrong, but I hadn't done anything wrong. It had been a misunderstanding. I hated Lauren! She was the lowest low of all. The day after Rose and Alice found out they stuck gum in her hair and beat the crap out of her. They never caught them, Lauren was smart enough to keep her mouth shut.

I was so lonely. I couldn't do anything, I couldn't operate. My heart was broken. I sent Bella's phone two songs. Show me the Meaning of Being Lonely, Don't want to lose you now, all she did was send back take a bow and If I were a boy. I listened to the songs. I hated that she thought of me in that way. I still hadn't seen her. I didn't know anything that was happening, no one would talk to me. Jacob almost got into a fight with me when I demanded to speak with her, one night I went to her house.

The next week at school threatened to kill me. Bella was back. She sat with Jacob, Alice, Rosalie, Leah. She looked so broken. Her aura of beauty was shattered. She had deep circles under her eyes; they looked like they could be bruises. Her hair was cut to her shoulders. I wanted to scream when I saw it. She looked a mess. She wouldn't look at anyone, she wouldn't speak. She would hold Jacob and Alice's hand and stare down. Jacob had his other hand around Leah, and I could tell all the jealousy I thought we had in come had gone. On Wednesday I got the courage to walk over there, and talk to her. Easier said than done. As soon as Jacob saw me walking towards them, he mumbled something, and he, Rosalie and Leah got up, arms crossed, blocking my vision of Alice and Bella.

"What do you want?" Hissed Rosalie. I didn't even look at her. I stretched up on my toes, getting a look at my angel, she looked so wrong…

"Bella" I practically yelled. She looked up, met my eyes, turned around and started sobbing into Alice's small form. Alice glared at me. Then hugged Bella, telling her soothing words.

"Bella please, I'm begging you, talk to me. I can explain, I love-" Jacob grabbed me by the chest, pushing me back towards my table. I struggled against him.

"I don't want trouble Edward, you were my friend, but I_ will_ kill you don't doubt that for one second. You leave Bella alone!" With a last shove he pushed me into my seat. I was going to fight him, when Emmett and Jasper grabbed me.

"Edward, you have to give her time." Said Emmett

"I can't live without her"

"We know, but you have to let her come to you. Bella loves you. In the end she'll come back. You have to try something different." Whispered Jasper.

When the bell rang I went to biology class hoping to sit next to Bella. Unfortunately she had sat next to Jacob, Seth taking her seat.

"You can't do this Edward, she's my sister. She's hurting. He won't let me talk to her. He says I chose my side. I swear you're my best friend. I need to know. Tell me the truth. I need to know if I'm betraying my brother and sister."

So I told him. When I was finished he sighed. "I'll talk to Jacob and Rosalie. They're like her body guards. They're making it increasingly difficult to talk to her. _HE _absolutely hates you for what he thinks you did. They're really close. But don't worry. Leah and Bella talked, she knows nothing is going on. Jacob thinks of her as a sister, nothing else. Don't hate my brother; he just only knows one side."

"I don't hate Jacob, I hate that she called him instead of me."

"You need to talk to her man. Text her, don't explain everything just tell her how you are feeling. Let her know you care."

"I guess that's all I can do, she looks so sad, so broken." I was very near to tearing up in Biology class. I was saved from that embarrassment when Jacob leaned into Bella and kissed her on the forehead. My jealousy was irrational, uncalled for, but I could practically taste the venom in my mouth. At that moment I hated him! Hated Jacob for being able to do that to my Bella! I hated that he could talk to her when I couldn't, hated that he was her source of comfort, something I so very badly wanted to be. As much as I hated myself for it, I couldn't help but think that while Jacob could very much kill me, I would have no problem doing the same.

Bella left the next week. Soon, the only thing I knew was that she had gone to boarding school in England. Alice and Rosalie made up with Jasper and Emmett, our tables were joined. Three months after the entire thing. In January, Alice and Rosalie finally spoke to me. When I told them the whole story they apologized, they cried and said they were horrible sisters and that they should have let me talk to her. I didn't care. I might never see Bella again. Life didn't matter. Jacob heard, and apologized telling me he wanted to talk to Bella, but that she would ignore him whenever he talked about me. He said he was so sorry for everything he did and said.

While my family was back together I was still broken. I couldn't breathe without my air, couldn't see without my light, and couldn't live without my life. I was lost, all I saw was darkness…


	17. Coming Home

BPOV

The darkness left. I felt it creep upon me, closing my eyes and ears making me feel nothing. The first month after I left all I remember was my dad coming to visit me, and me trying to act normal for him. The next month, Jacob and Seth came to see me, along with Leah and Angela. I remember Jake's voice as he begged me to come home. I just couldn't bring myself up to do it, couldn't allow myself to be so close to 'him' again. As soon as he began to plead with me, I shut myself out; when he mentioned 'him' I shut him out, and told him to leave. I just couldn't talk about 'him', it brought me too much pain, and though I hated it, it was so hard for me to know he still had my heart, and that he was never far from my mind.

The last week in March, school let out. We had exams earlier in the year because the boarding school that I now attended was going to be repaired for classes to start in September, they were even going to add three new buildings. I was glad that I was going home. I was tired of being sad and depressed, I missed my family and had told myself many times that there was absolutely no need for me to see 'him' at all. My depression kept myself isolated from the rest of the student population, so the entire four months I spent lonely, and without a single friend made in the new school. I was secretly glad for this, I wasn't planning on coming back here, and I didn't want to deal with the awkward goodbye, or the new pain of a lost friend. I also knew that I wasn't going to spend all summer at home, no matter how much I missed my family, it was too close, and would be very probable that I would run into 'him' during my summer time. I was actually waiting for my dad to call so I could talk him into letting Jacob, Seth, Angela, Leah and I go to my old house in Florida. I wanted to check on it, since I had decided to keep it, just in case, and wanted to visit my friends, as well as check on the shop my mom and I had, which was now being managed by a girl named Rory, who was in her last year of college. My dad had been supervising everything but I really wanted to see how everything was going with my own eyes. As I packed I thought about my family. I missed them so much. Jacob could always make me smile, he always understood how I felt, and understood me. Seth was so, well Seth. He was so pure and joyous; he was the type of person who would be friends with anyone, even someone completely different from him. My dad was so loving, even though he didn't show much emotion I knew he cared about me, about my happiness and my well being. Sue was like the responsible parent I lost. Though I loved my mom, and would never forget her, she had never been much of a mother; she was more like my best friend. In Sue I could see a mother, and loved her as such, though I knew I would never let my mother's memory fade. I was so happy my dad had found her. Then I thought about my friends, Leah was so exotic, so proud, she seemed to walk with a regal nature, she was the person I could always count on to advise me. When I wanted to have fun I went to Alice, her bouncy nature was almost contagious, and when I needed a shoulder to cry on it would be Angela, she would always listen. If I needed a protector that was my Rosalie, who's tenacity kept all but one type of hurt away. Then I thought about my boys, Jasper was so calm, so tranquil, his emotions could always flood me, and he seemed to understand my feelings like no one else could. Emmett could always make me smile; he could make me laugh and cry all because of his nature. His size was a shadow of the big heart he had. Then there was …

I was brought back to earth by the sound of my phone, though I made no move to pick it up, I knew that ring tone too well, and knew who it signified.

"He's the reason for the teardrops on my Guitar,

The only one that's got enough of me to break my heart,

He's the song in the car,

I keep singing, don't know why I do"

I let it keep ringing. Every day it would ring at this time, so instead of answering and then hanging up I simply changed my ringtone for him from 'Lovestory" to "Teardrops on my Guitar". I didn't know why, after four months he still called me every day. By now I was used to the pain in my heart every time I heard the phone ring with that song. Eventually the ringing stopped, as It always did, though almost immediately it started again, this time to my father's ringtone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bells, I was just calling to tell you Seth is on his way to pick you up. I'm sorry but there's a big case going on and it's causing a lot of trouble."

"That's fine. Listen, Dad, I was wondering if I could take Jake, Seth, Leah and Angela to Florida with me. I want to go to the house and check up on the store?"

"I'm pretty sure that'll be fine, I'll have to talk to Sue. You'll have to come home before the wedding; you're a bridesmaid, so you'll need to be here for the fittings"

"I know, I just want to go for a while though."

"As soon as school is out for the boy, they finish in mid-April."

"Ok, thanks Dad"

"See you soon, miss you Bells"

"Miss you too dad."

I thought about the wedding. Sue had asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. Esme was going to be her maid of honor; I was surprised to hear they had been best friends in College, and was still friends, even after she moved to Washington after getting married. Angela and Leah were going to be the other bridesmaids, and Carlisle was going to give her away. I knew Jacob and Seth were going to escort Angela and Leah, but I didn't know who would escort me yet. It would probably be one of her other friends children.

I quickly got in the shower, getting dressed and preparing my boxes by the door. Afterwards I watched a bit of TV and waited for Seth. Soon afterwards I felt a knock on my door, and Seth came in, sweeping me into an Emmett-worthy bone crushing hug.

"Hey sis" he smiled at me.

"Hey bro" I smiled at him. "So… where's Jacob?"

I saw Seth's smile falter for a second, then almost instantly he recuperated

"He just wanted to talk some things back at the house. Dad called, you know? He told us about Florida, we're so excited, Angela and Leah are already talking about swim-suit shopping."

"Great!" I said excited that Sue had said yes. "Well I'm ready so let's go!" I told him, anxious to get this month over with. At the same time I was wondering what was going on back home, and what Jacob was doing that he couldn't come for me.

****************************************************************************

EPOV

I opened my bedroom door to find an excited Jacob, pacing in my hallway.

"Hey Jake, what are you doing?" I asked wondering what was up with the gigantic grin he had plastered across his face.

"I've got great news" he said, not breaking his smile.

I hadn't cracked a smile in 4 months 3 weeks and 13 days. It was horrible, especially with the worry I saw in my parent's eyes, and the tabloids calling me suicidal and depressed. At least they got part right, I was definitely depressed. I hadn't looked at my piano since she left, I could tell I looked a mess, barely eating, never sleeping. I knew I had my parents worried, my family was a mirror of my feelings, Alice was always sad, Emmett barely ever joked around, even Rosalie had lost her usual vivacious glow, Jasper, it seemed like he was the worst. He usually fed off of people's emotions, seeing us all like this was like causing him physical pain.

I let Jacob in, going to sit on my black couch, facing my giant window.

"What news" I asked, barely curious.

"She's coming home today! She's coming home for good!"

My heart swelled, she was coming back! I would get to see my Bella. My beautiful Bella. For the first time in a century of darkness, I saw a ray, a ray of hope. It felt strange to smile, after an eternity of sorrow.

"That's not all though, Dad told us Bella wanted to go back to Florida with me, Seth, Leah, and Angela. He said yes, but I talked him into letting the rest of you guys come the week after that, without her knowledge of course. We're going to butter her up, and make sure you guys talk and you get her back before the wedding."

"You're serious?" I couldn't believe it, Bella and me in Florida, she would have nowhere to hide.

"Yeah, no need to thank me, you're my friend but this isn't only about you, I want my happy sister back." I could tell how much he'd suffered. I knew he was sad about Bella's condition. He had given me regular reports on her, whenever he went to see her and he could always tell me how sad she really looked, or how thin she was, or how little sleep it looked like she was getting.

It had killed me, every bit of bad news was a knife in my heart, but it was better than not knowing, better than picturing her in the arms of someone else.

"So when is she getting here?" I asked him, the wheels in my head turning with ideas.

"In about two hours, I've got to warn you, she won't want to see you. I think it'll be best if you wait till Florida, that way she won't have anywhere to hide from you."

I frowned, of course Jacob was right, and I'd have to wait longer. This was saddening, but a minor setback for Bella I could wait forever, just to see her smile and look at me with love in her eyes.

"Fine" I muttered, I had some planning to do. I had to get my Bella back.

****************************************************************************

BPOV

As the elevator doors opened I was engulfed in a hug by my father, who was smiling at me.

"Welcome home, Bells, we all missed you kid" I smiled, looking around at my entire family, minus one.

Sue and Jacob hugged me next, followed by Leah, Angela, Alice, Rosalie, Esme, Carlisle, Jasper and finally a bone crusher from Emmett, who was holding something in his and, though I couldn't focus on what it was, so many people were around me. All but one seemed to be here, the one I feared, yet missed the most, the one that no matter how hard I tried, still held my heart. Edward.

"You're all here!" I said, beaming at my family, realizing how incomplete I was without them.

"Of course we _all_ missed you." Said Esme, giving me a silent hint. Her voice was caring, yet I could detect an underlying worry and sorrow. As I looked around I noticed everyone's eyes showed the same hidden sorrow, a bit of pain, especially my usually bouncy Alice, who didn't look happy, yet not as quirky as her normal self. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to make my once glowing family this way.

"Come one Bella. We have so much to catch up on." Said Alice, as I took her extended hand. As I was walking with her, telling her about school I noticed Emmett again. He had a phone in his hand, pointing directly at me.

"What are you doing?" I asked a bit confused.

"Just taking a picture in case you decide to disappear again" he laughed, while putting the phone away.

****************************************************************************

EPOV  
My view went dark, and I sighed, Unknowingly Bella had brightened my day. As soon as she stepped out of the elevator eyes I took a breath. It had been so long since I had seen her. Her hair was longer and when she smiled at Emmett it was as if she was smiling straight at me. I felt a twinge of guilt at seeing her though; nothing Jacob had said was a lie. She had dark bruise-like shadows under her eyes and she looked incredibly pale and thin. Though she was smiling, I could see the pain in her beautiful eyes. As soon as she noticed the camera, I saw her expression change, it was as if she was looking me straight in the eye.

"What are you doing?" she asked Emmett, who was taking a live video of her for me, it was as if I was there, seeing her through a two way mirror. I heard Emmett's witty response and saw my connection with my personal heaven/hell broken.

I lied on my bed, covering my face with my hands.

"Bella" I sighed.

Not seeing her for almost a month, yet knowing she was so close was going to be torture. I started counting down the days till I would confront her in Florida and swore to myself, by the time the trip was finished Bella would be mine again.


	18. Inprisoned

BPOV

As I went inside of my old house I noticed Jacob holding Leah lovingly and whispering in her ear. We had been in Florida for a week, and I already felt better. I missed this place terribly, and was finally starting to come out from my unwanted darkness.

"Bella" Jacob called, walking with Leah towards me. "Can you lend me your laptop?"

"Yeah, come on, it's in my room."

We walked together chatting lightly about New York and how different it was from here. As I opened my bedroom door my jaw dropped, I didn't even register the closing of a door behind me. My room was completely empty; there was no furniture, nothing.

"Jacob what happened?" I asked turning around but pulling up short.

"Jacob's not here for you to hide behind anymore, Bella." It was Edward. His body was blocking the door, which was closed.

"Get out" I said, my voice breaking, pain filling me as soon as I saw him. He didn't move, and I pushed him out of the way trying to get to the door. However, the door wouldn't open.

"Jacob open the door!" I said, surprisingly my voice was strong even though my eyes were filling with tears.

"I won't open till you talk to him Bella." said Jacob. I was surprised; I thought he had been on my side.

"Fine" I muttered bitterly. Then louder "Then get ready to never let me out because I will never talk to you. So you might as well give up."

"I'll never give up; I'll never let you leave again." He said quietly, almost as if to himself. I walked towards one corner of the room, sitting on the floor as far as I could from him. I was exhausted, it was late and I had just gotten back from visiting my step father Phil, who owned some clubs and could only see me there. I put my knees to my chest, holding myself in a tight ball. I closed my eyes and willed the tears that he brought away.

The next thing I remembered was a white light coming in through my now bare windows. I was surprisingly comfortable, and was actually relishing in a dream where Edward had come back for me. I always wished he had come to get me, although I would never admit it to anyone or myself. When I opened my eyes I internally cursed. Staring at me were the most beautiful green eyes in the world. The reason I was so comfortable was because I was sleeping in Edwards arms, my back against his chest, my head on his shoulders, he had his arms around me, wrapping me in a secure blanket of warmth.

"Hi" he said

I tried to push myself off of him, but his iron grip refused to budge and I was pressed tighter against his chest.

"Bella we need to talk" he said looking at me pleadingly.

"No, now let me go" I was surprised at how cold my voice sounded and was secretly pleased I didn't clue him into my internal struggle.

"I'm not going to let you go until you talk to me." He held me even closer almost as if to prove his point and no matter how hard I struggled he never let me go. After about half an hour, my tears had retaken me in defeat and I stopped trying to break through. He just stared at me, not once breaking a sweat. That was how I noticed how sad and troubled he looked. He had shadows under his eyes and his hair had grown out, making his face look older and more manly. His eyes held an internal pain, and it seemed like he was going through torture. I immediately felt a surge of pity, but stopped it in its tracks before it overpowered my sensible thinking. He looked at me straight in the eyes and I had trouble looking away. It was just like that first day, except this time there was a past that told me to be careful and never again give away my heart.

I looked down embarrassed when my stomach growled. I had slept through the night without eating anything after lunch.

"Are you hungry?"

"If I say yes can I get out of here?"

"No, we have food" he pointed towards a tray by the door. It had several breakfast items as well as coffee and different types of milkshakes. I was so hungry, my stomach growled again, and I felt my heart clench when he let me go. It was what I wanted, and I had to remind myself that he had betrayed me, that he was no longer the person that I knew, that maybe he never was. I walked over to the tray and plopped down to eat right there. Edward followed me, and sat right across from me as we both ate. When I was done I got up and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it behind me, I hadn't finished washing my face when I heard a knock and someone trying to open the door.

"Bella open the door" said Edward calmly.

"No" I said my voice firm with false strength.

He knocked harder.

"Open the door" he said, and I knew he was trying very hard to keep calm.

"No, Go away Edward"

"Damn it Bella. OPEN THE DOOR!" his temper had finally blown and he was banging the door while he screamed at me from the other side

"I'll open as soon as you leave." I told him, almost afraid of this version of Edward.

"I'll never leave!" he yelled again

"Then I'll never open!" I yelled back.

"FINE!" he yelled, and I heard him walking away from the door. I sat on the closed toilet seat, my head in my hands. I felt a slam outside the door, followed by Edward screaming for Jacob. After about five minutes I heard my door slam again.

"Are you going to open the door?" asked a very angry yet calm voiced Edward.

"No" I said, it was almost a whisper, I was truly afraid. I had never had him scream at me before, and though I couldn't see him I was pretty sure his eyes would me mad and half-crazed.

"Well then you better step back, because I'm breaking the door down"

"WHAT? Edward are you crazy?" I screamed stepping back as far as I could, leaning against the shower doors. He started banging against the door.

"Edward Stop!"

"Unlock the door!"

"NO"

The banging continued; until my door was practically in shreds it slammed open against the wall to show me a angered Edward standing with something that looked like a pickaxe. One of his hands was bloodied and probably swollen from all the knocking.

"Are you going to talk to me now?" he asked through clenched teeth. He looked truly frightening.

"No, please just leave me alone." I whispered

He walked towards me, and caged me in against the shower doors. I couldn't step back, or forward, I was trapped. I gulped.

"You might not want to talk to me but you're damn sure going to listen" He was staring at me, his angry eyes closer than they had been in months; he was practically speaking against my lips. A centimeter apart, and I could feel the electricity generate from him.

"I'm not-"he silenced me by pressing his lips to mine. I felt the familiar jolt of warmth and passion and hated myself for enjoying this. His body was pressed against mine, it was impossible for me to move, even though at that moment I didn't want to.

"You are going to listen to me whether you like it or not." He whispered in my ear making me shudder.

"Listen to me" I said softly, I couldn't let him do this, I couldn't let him break me even more.

"Fine, but you will let me talk when you're done" he said

"Ok" I told him everything foolishly, without editing and poured out my heart.

"I can't do this. You can't just come back here. It'll just take me that much longer to forget you when you get bored again." He tried to interrupt him but I pleaded to let me finish. "It was torture when I saw you with her, so much time I've spent in darkness, in pain. It hurts too much to love you. I can't do it. You were my everything, and my heart got broken, and even if I never love anyone again, it'll be because I'll always love you, but I can never be with you. You have to understand I had never given myself over to someone so completely, and you crushed me." I was sobbing, and Edward looked near tears as well. "I'll always wonder if it was ever true, and I hate you. I hate you for making me love you, for not letting me forget; I hate everything you do because it reminds me of when you were mine. So please, just leave and let me live, I can't take anymore of this pain."I was sobbing into his shirt by the time I was finished. He had small and silent tears flowing down his face.

"Bella, I didn't cheat on you." His voice was honest and firm, but I couldn't let myself hope. I was changing, I was putting my pajamas on, I went to the closet to grab a t-shirt and she just jumped on me. I didn't even know she was there. She pinned me to the bed, and I was pushing her off when I saw you by the door. I followed you but I was too late. I wanted to talk to you, I wanted to go with Jacob when you called him, but he wouldn't let me. He didn't know the truth. I called you every day. It's been hell without you. I've missed you so much, not just Bella the girl that I loved, but Bella my best friend. The entire family is depressed. My personal hell is a world where you don't exist. I can't go on living without you." His voice cracked, and the tears fell freely down his beautiful face as he said the only words that could change me. His eyes showed a burning man, a man in so much pain that I had yet to live through such a thing, my suffering fell short of the burning man that was in Edwards eyes. Of course I believed him, it hurt me so much to see how stupid I had been, how much time we had lost. I felt my masked tears resurface.

"I'm, Ed-" I was short of words, I was trying to tell him I had forgiven him, I was going to beg him to forgive me. But he cut me short.

"Damn it Bella" he said, pressing me harder against the shower doors.

"You cant tell me you don't feel anything anymore. I know you. I feel you under me, your heart racing, how you blush, just like that…" he said pointing at my cheeks "…whenever I'm around. I know that when I kiss you, you feel it too. You feel the electricity, the jolt, I KNOW YOU DO!" and then he kissed me. If I ever thought Edward had kissed me before I was mistaken. His lips crushed me and demanded my participation. He was exuding passion and love and an unanticipated hunger that made my blood boil and shocked me to my core. He put one hand in my hair, holding my face to his, the other on my back. As I put my legs around his waist he leaned into me harder, and kept his other hand from letting me fall. I kissed him back as well as I could, showing him my love, my forgiveness, my trust in him. When we separated we were breathless, as Edward moaned my name.

"Edward I-"I started again, only to be interrupted.

"No, Bella, nothing you say can canc-"

"Edward SHUT UP!" I yelled, irritated at him.

"I love you, I'm sorry. I was so stupid" I begged him, he looked shocked.

I saw his expression change, to confusion, then the most beautiful smile of joy.

"Bella, I love you so much, I missed you like crazy, I-" I interrupted his rant.

"I know"

He gave me a breathtaking smile and kissed me again, this time much sweeter, slower, yet building.

"Can we get out of here now?" I asked him, breathlessly.

"Yeah, come on"

I smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen, there I found Alice in a bright pink bikini, dripping water on the floor and setting the table. Emmett was shirtless, also drenched and wearing an apron that said 'kiss the cook". Rosalie was perched on the counter talking to Angela and Leah, while Seth, Jazz, and Jacob were walking in, drying themselves off with the biggest towels I had ever seen. I smiled as I looked around at my family.


End file.
